Second Int’l Forum on Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation Highlights Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Using the First Forum, which focused on agri value chains as a cornerstone, the Second Forum on the International Forum on Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation, shifted its focus on empowering youths, who are the key agents in pushing the rural transformation agenda through digital technologies. 

Around 100 representatives of social groups, research institutions, enterprises, government institutions, the media, UN agencies, and other international institutions from China and abroad, as well as farmers who have benefited from various rural development programs and undertakings, attended in person and online.

While there are 600 million rural youths in the world, their limited access to education, land, natural resources, finance, technology, information, and education has impeded them from contributing to the rural economy. Nii Quaye-Kumah, IFAD Country Director and Head of IFAD East Asia Hub, highlighted that we need to scale up investment in rural youth, if we are to reap the demographic dividend and accelerate the 2030 Agenda. He observed that an increasing number of young people have been using innovative technologies to start-up businesses in rural areas. Nii Quaye-Kumah indicated that IFAD always places young people at the forefront of its development actions and will continue to ensure their access to resources and services and increase their representation in decision-making roles through its joint programs undertaken in line with the Chinese government’s rural revitalization agenda.

“China’s people-centred development has led to several accomplishments, including the eradication of extreme poverty,” said Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator in China. “The experiences of China offer many potential lessons that can be shared with other developing countries on their paths towards sustainable development.”

Wang Xiaohui, Editor-in-Chief of CIIC, remarked that more emphasis should be placed on the role of youth in promoting global rural vitalization in his opening speech. He pointed out that institutional mechanisms should effectively engage knowledgeable, passionate, and energetic young people to stimulate innovation and help them become pillars of rural development. Wang also expressed that more global platforms that facilitate exchanges and the sharing of experiences related to rural development among young people should also be created and that new ideas, approaches, and development areas should be pursued.

“Across the globe, young people are increasingly connected, informed, technologically adept, and better educated than any prior generation,” said Tomomi Ishida, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Social Protection Officer (Rural Development). However, she also pointed out that youths tend to encounter unique challenges that are often more profound than what their adult counterparts experience when striving to engage in productive and effective involvement. The agendas of youth empowerment and protection thus hold paramount importance in FAO’s strategies.

Wang Yi, Executive Director of the World Youth Development Forum Secretariat’s organizing committee and Executive Director of the All-China Youth Federation’s international department, indicated that it is estimated that 130,000 Chinese young people choose to participate in various rural vitalization projects every year. Wang shared that the WYDF has established a special fund and scholarship program to engage youths in rural revitalization by facilitating the provision of small grants and promoting capacity building, international communication, advocacy, and publicity pertaining to youth leaders around the world.

The Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation: 2023 Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship report was also released at the forum. It features 15 inspiring stories and case studies related to young innovators and entrepreneurs from China and abroad in areas such as digital agricultural machinery, precision agriculture, the connection of smallholder farmers to markets, financial empowerment and South-South cooperation.

The report was jointly compiled by the IFAD China Office, FAO Representation in China, the WFP China Centre of Excellence, ESCAP-CSAM, and the CIIC, and received support from Robert Walker, professor of sociology at Beijing Normal University and professor emeritus and emeritus fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford.

Professor Walker observed that young people can lead the way by using new technologies to transform traditional agricultural production and distribution, such as drones, field video systems, and smart fisheries to accelerate the SDGs. However, it can only be achieved if they are equipped with financial support, fiscal and tax incentives, on-site support, relevant public services, market access, training, talent introduction, and other forms of support.

As of date, IFAD finances over 35 projects in China worth US$ 3.4 billion. In the most recent projects in Sichuan, Yunnan and Hunan Province, IFAD provides young rural entrepreneurs and investors with small grants for poverty reduction and rural revitalization. Tang Wenwen (1st from the right), one of the youth entrepreneurs who benefited from IFAD’s small grant support, established the rural cooperative, Chushan Agricultural Valley, in her hometown in Sichuan Province. This innovative initiative modernized the local agricultural system, strengthen farmers’ skills and raised farmers’ income.