Rural Youth Profile and the Future of Agricultural in Egypt

Summary

The rural youth make up a large portion of Egypt’s rural population and rural labor force (males and females). Even though they suffer from many socio-economic and institutional problems and obstacles, they play an important role in agricultural production. Over the past decades many governmental and international donor projects devised interventions to support the rural youth and agricultural production; however, with limited sustainable success. Recently the private sector via flexible start-up endeavors seeks to create profit through responding to the needs of farmers and filling the service gap. Nevertheless, for a win-win sustainable outcome certain aspects must be taken into consideration.

The Rural Youth Profile

In Egypt, the rural youth (between 15-45 years) account for more than 50% of the total rural population (about 50% females), they represent about 60% of total youth and constitute about 25% of the total population in 2017 (Capmas: population 2017).?

The rural youth of today are different than the youth of the past. Despite increased education and exposure to mass and social media they suffer from hindrances that prevent their local self-realization. On top of these hindrances is the shrinking agricultural land area in the Nile Valley and Delta (see Chart 1) that is unable to absorb them and secure their future - following same old methods in a rapidly changing environment - coupled with the deterioration of agricultural returns, in addition to the absence of sufficient investments to establish enterprises able to create new job opportunities.?

Furthermore, about 30% of the young rural population is illiterate (illiterate, read & write, & illiteracy certificate), of which 60% are females (Capmas: population 2017). The proportion of rural youth not enrolled in education, employment or training (NEET) was 34.4% in Egypt in 2018 (see Chart 2), where the percentage was 8% for males and about 60% for females (Amer & Atallah 2019). According to the 2017 population census more than 70% of Egypt’s dropouts took place in rural areas (rural children and youth aged 6 to 20), probably due to work related reasons for males and marriage for females.

Many educated rural youth prefer to find a desk job with a monthly salary, and social and health insurance. However, unemployment is high in rural areas and highest among the educated and lowest among those who are illiterate or can only read and write.?

The rural youth labor force (15-49 years) is about 55% of total labor force in Egypt, and accounts for more than 80% of total rural labor force (while those between 20-40 years are 53.7%) (Capmas: labor force 2021). The agricultural sector is the largest employer of young people aged 15-29 (FAO 2022). Nevertheless, the rural employment in the agricultural sector constitutes only 30% of total rural employment and about 17% of total employment in Egypt (Capmas: labor force 2021).?

The current reasons that discourage the rural youth?from?working in agriculture, include:?

·??????the lack of a stable monthly income due to the seasonality of most agricultural activities that does not secure the youths’ future and that of their families.?

·??????The low wage of agriculture, according to Capmas 2021, the average daily wage in agriculture (for those working with a wage) is LE 90 that is low compared to other sectors (Capmas: labor force 2021).

·??????The neglect of farmers by the state that allows their exploitation by traders who purchase their crops at low prices due to the lack of local support, either by cooperatives or extension workers, and else.?

·??????in addition to society’s view to farming and farmers that make many girls refuse to marry farmers, because of the expected hardships (Ahmed, Ahmed, & Abou Al-Fadl 2017).

The percentage involvement of rural youth might further deteriorate with a changing environment leading to increased international and local market prices, diseases, climate change, or migration (especially the educated and skilled to Europe that is suffering from shortages in labor force), etc.

Capitalizing on the rural youths’ (especially the educated and skilled) engagement in agricultural production requires important steps to be taken to customize interventions to actual needs:

First:?Government, development organizations and the private sector should agree on a unified definition for the rural youths. (E.g. Capmas statistics sometimes uses the age bracket of 15-29 years to refer to the youth, and sometime 15-24 years. Other academic studies use 18-32 years, 18-40 years, and 15-45 years to study the rural youth).

Second:?The rural youths are not a homogeneous group, but they differ based on:

·??????Age

·??????Region (Lower & Upper Egypt)

·??????Gender (Female vs. male rural youth)

·??????Education (illiterate & educated)

·??????Landownership (Landless, small owner, etc.)

·??????Residence (small vs. large village)-community size and availability of services

·??????Etc.

Third:?Government and donor organizations’ interventions seeking to support the rural youth and agriculture should underline the importance of the sustainability of provided services (e.g. physical or digital), even in the presence of budget limitations and the completion of project.

Fourth:?The private sector composed of flexible start-ups can create win-win outcomes through its interventions. For this to materialize government’s issuance of regulations outlining parties’ rights and duties, government supervision and monitoring, and the existence of speedy conflict resolution mechanisms are a must.

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