The Future of Rurality: Place Attachment among Young Inhabitants of Two Rural Communities of Mediterranean Central Chile

Rural livelihoods are under threat, not only from climate change and soil erosion but also because young people in rural areas are increasingly moving to urbanized areas, seeking employment and education opportunities. In the Valparaiso region of Chile, megadrought, soil degradation, and industrialization are driving young people to leave agricultural and livestock activities. In this study, our main objective was to identify the factors influencing young people living in two rural agricultural communities (Valle Hermoso and La Vega). We conducted 90 online surveys of young people aged 13–24 to evaluate their interest in living in the countryside (ILC). We assessed the effect of community satisfaction, connectedness to nature, and social valuation of rural livelihoods on the ILC. The results show that young people were more likely to stay living in the countryside when they felt satisfied and safe in their community, felt a connection with nature, and were surrounded by people who enjoyed the countryside. These results highlight the relevance of promoting place attachment and the feeling of belonging within the rural community. Chilean rural management and local policies need to focus on rural youth and highlight the opportunities that the countryside provides for them.

Determinants of Skill Levels of Farm Youth with regard to Agripreneurship: A Multinomial Regression Approach

This study investigated various determinants of the differential level of skill as perceivedby farm youth engaged in agripreneurship. The existing agripreneurial skill levels weredelineated by developing a composite index constituting of 5 skill dimensions. Purposivesampling was adopted to select the rural youth belonging to farming background andinvolved in agripreneurship for higher income in five districts of Odisha representing fivedifferent agro-climatic zones. A total of 250 farm youth was sampled from the selected 10blocks. The findings of the study revealed that, annual income from primary occupation,agripreneurial training, social media exposure and agripreneurship experience havesignificantly affected the existing level of skill possessed by farm youth with regard toagripreneurship. The findings affirm the need for extension personnel to understand theexisting skill level, capacities, abilities of farm youth along with the factors determiningthem in order to create awareness and build capacities required for agripreneurship.

Entrepreneurial Behavior of Skilled Youths of Banda District of Bundelkhand Region,Uttar Pradesh

India being predominantly agriculture and agripreneurs play vital and important role in theagricultural value chain. In today’s changing scenario, skills in entrepreneurship developmenthave become important and Skill Development of Rural Youth is a flagship scheme of theGovernment of India. The study was conducted in Banda district of Bundelkhand regionof Uttar Pradesh to study the entrepreneurial behaviour of youths and its impact on socio-economic status of youths. Total 90 respondents were selected through proportionaterandom sampling from three youth training centers of Banda district. The data were collectedwith the help of pre-structured schedule and entrepreneurial behaviour of youths wasassessed by seven components of entrepreneurial behaviour. It was found that the majority(66.67%) of respondents had medium level of entrepreneurial behaviour. Further, the socio-economic profile attributes like education, land holding, material possession, occupation,annual income and sources of information utilization were positively and significantlycorrelated with entrepreneurial behaviour of youths.

Determinantes del empleo no pleno de los jóvenes rurales del Ecuador durante el 2020

In Ecuador, since 2017, the representativeness of full employment had been showing a decline among the number of employed persons in rural and urban areas. This structural problem joins a break in economic growth of the country and the region. In this sense, this study aims to highlight the factors that determine access to non-full employment of young people in rural areas. For this, the estimation of a probit model is carried out. The results show the need to establish differentiated policies for access to full employment for rural youth.

Youth’s participation in agriculture: A fallacy or achievable possibility? Evidence from rural South Africa

Background: The realisation of more youth involvement in the agricultural sector has proved to be elusive, so the question of the possibility of a youth-led agriculture needs further investigation.Aim: The aim of the study was to assess whether there is potential for the rural youth to participate in agriculture by employing the typology formulation approach.Setting: The study is premised on recent calls for strategies to reduce youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa by involving and enhancing the agricultural sector.Method: A survey in questionnaire form was conducted with 224 youths from two districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Principal Components Analysis and K-Means Clustering were performed to determine the youth typologies and assess their potential.Results: Five typologies were identified. Most youths (59.3%) were found in Typology 1 (those that see no benefits in farming) and in Typology 2 (older, experienced and with access to land). Typology 5 (male youths in agricultural cooperatives) had the lowest proportion of youths (5.7%). Participants in typologies 2, 3 and 5 were deemed to have high to moderate potential for successful engagement in farming. The highest potential was found in the typology with the least percentage of youths.Conclusions: The typologies showed that youths have varying perceptions and aspirations regarding agriculture. While some show an interest and have the potential to participate in farming, others do not. Therefore, the blanket notion of the youth’s lack of interest in agriculture should be qualified as it does not always hold. The heterogeneity in characteristics among the youths in these typologies, including their potential to participate in agriculture, expresses the differences in the kinds of support needed to increase their participation.

What Can We Learn from Rural Youth in British Columbia, Canada? Environment and Climate Change—Issues and Solutions

“What can we learn from rural youth?” was a youth-led arts-based participatory action research project carried out to understand and facilitate positive youth development in two rural communities in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Data was collected using photovoice, visual art, journal reflections, and group discussions. During the study, youth expressed a strong connection with nature for their development or wellbeing. Issues such as environmental degradation and climate change were identified as causes for concern. They discussed human responsibility for environmental stewardship both in their local communities and globally. Climate change hazards such as flood and fire, human action leading to environmental pollution, and human responsibility for environmental stewardship surfaced as issues for their development. Youth expressed a felt responsibility to act on climate change and to reduce the anthropogenic impact on the Earth. Based on youth voices, we conclude that attempts to engage youth in climate action without considering their psychosocial wellbeing, may overburden them.