Youth mobility, food security and rural poverty reduction
The FAO project Youth mobility, food security and rural poverty reduction(abbreviated as “RYM” – Rural Youth Mobility) was successfully completed in February 2018. With funding from the Italian Development Cooperation, RYM was launched in 2015 to address the main drivers of rural migration of youth in Tunisia and Ethiopia, while at the same time harnessing the development potential of migratory movements. The Project aimed at improving the understanding of rural migration by filling evidence gaps on the determinants and impacts of migration in rural areas and at promoting better policy integration between migration, agriculture and rural development. At grassroots level, RYM provided unemployed rural youth from migration-prone areas of Tunisia and Ethiopia with the necessary training and equipment to launch their small agri-enterprises and economic activities, which are expected to benefit the entire community by generating additional direct and indirect job opportunities. Although Tunisia and Ethiopia present structural differences in terms of agricultural employment, poverty rates and food insecurity, in both countries rural outmigration, especially of youth, is a reality challenging rural development and transformation. More can be found in this report “Promoting alternatives to migration for rural youth in Tunisia and Ethiopia or this video. Furthermore, the RYM Project contributed to conceptualise and raise awareness on the nexus between migration and rural development. As such, it supported the development of the FAO corporate conceptual framework on migration: Addressing rural youth migration at its root causes: A conceptual framework.