But now, parts of the earth have been restored. The crops begin to bloom and the bees are buzzing once more.
The people responsible for this change are a group of Hodgepodge: former taxi drivers and miners, people who barely finished high school and some with higher education titles. The unifying factor? Most have young people on their side.
“There is life beyond mining (but) we all grew up with the mentality that Diamond is the only solution“Sahr Fallah, president of the Youth Council in Kono said.
More than 44 percent of the 1,300 million people aged 15-24 are employed in Agrifood systems. However, this group often does not have the same access to resources as previous generations. In addition, they are marginalized in conversations that could change this systemic exclusion.
Young people work in a diamond mining site near Koidu, Sierra Leone. (archive)
“Many times, what we find is that young people are included in policy processes, but it is a bit tokenistic. They do not feel that their voice really matters, ”said Lauren Phillips, deputy director of the Organization of Agriculture and Food (FAO).
Decent work = economic growth
The high -level political forum on sustainable development in New York has been convened this week and then to discuss progress, or the lack of it, towards the Sustainable Development Goals (ODG) agreed worldwide, one of which guarantees a decent work for all.
Despite this commitment, more than half of the global workforce remains in informal employment, according to the report of the Secretary General on the SDGs published on Monday. This means that they do not have adequate social or legal protections.
“Decent work must be in the heart of macroeconomic planning, climatic and diesel transitions and social recovery strategies“Sangheon Lee, director of Employment Policy of the International Labor Organization (ILO) said.
Do not ignore youth
Like other vulnerable groups, young people face unique challenges in the Agrifood sector. Specifically, they often lack land rights and will have difficulty acting collectively to protect their interests.
“If you are not looking at data with an age or gender lens, you really lack part of the story,” said Phillips.
Among these assets are land titles, which the elderly can be reluctant to transmit due to insufficient social protections. Young people are also less capable of accessing credit so that they can invest in themselves and their families.
Betty Seray Sam, one of Kono’s young farmers, said her family never used to go to her when they were going through a crisis: they knew she had no money and a son to support.
But now, through agricultural work in Kono, you can keep your family in times of crisis.
“This project has had a undulating effect for young people in terms not only to improve their livelihoods but also the livelihoods of their families“Abdul Munu, president of Mabunduku, said a community -based farmers’ organization in Kono.
Bee a farmer
Providing young people training in Agrifood systems is absolutely essential to ensure that they can practice sustainable agriculture.
In Chegutu, Zimbabwe, FAO has helped establish bees farmers schools where young people are taught how to support apiaries through practical training activities.
“The idea is that one of the apiaries can become a classroom where young people from different parts of a district can come like a school,” said Mawire, a specialist in natural resources at FAO.
This training has helped local juvenile beekeepers to go beyond the production of local honey and small -scale to a fully full business model that has the potential not only to combat poverty, but to create local wealth.
Evelyn Mutuda, the representative of young entrepreneurs in Chegutu, aspires to plant jacaranda trees that, according to her, will improve the quality of bees honey and allow beekeepers to export beyond local markets.
“We want to maximize all profits so we can be getting bigger,” Mutuda said.
Facebook to Tiktok
Being able to train labor associations is one of the key factors of decent work. This type of collective action is even more important for young people in Agrifood that often lack social capital to promulgate a real policy change.
“Young people just begin, making ties within their group but also with people outside their group. Those ties are important … because there is power in numbers,” Phillips said.
He also pointed out that young people are forming these ties through geographical distances, often through the use of technology. Agrifood influencers on Instagram and Tiktok, for example, are increasingly configuring conversations about the sector.
Mrs. Phillips also pointed out that it is important to think about collective action for young people as intergenerational.
“While the report focuses on young people, it does not ignore the fact that young people live in families … There are many things that talk about the need for solidarity between generations,” Phillips said.
Youth optimism
The next generation will be the food administrators we eat, so integrating them into that system is now essential for future food safety and sustainability.
“Many young people integrate tradition with innovation, the creation of sustainability and community resilience“Said Venedio Nala Ardisa, a youth representative in the pact of the indigenous peoples of Asia, in an online parallel event during the high -level forum.
Angeline Manhanzva, one of the beekeepers in Chegutu, said that the opportunity to become a beekeeper changed her life. One day, she dreams of owning her own bees.
“I will be an older person who has so much wealth and can buy his own great land to keep my hives and process my own honey.”