1. Akram Khalid
Green Growth Pakistan
Creating Agro Livestock
Entrepreneurship Opportunities for
Rural Youth
Presentation made on the occasion of Kissan Mela (Farmers’ Fair) at Expo Centre Lahore (30 Dec 2013)

2.  Introduction
 Agricultural Profile
 Why Agriculture is not Attracting Youth
 Understanding Rural Youth
 Remodeling Agriculture
 Agribusiness Opportunities for Rural Youth
 Conclusion
 International Agribusiness Models
Contents

3. Introduction
 Pakistan with a population of 180 million is
the sixth most populous country in the
world and will be fifth largest one by 2050
@1.6% growth rate
 Dramatic social changes have led to rapid
urbanization and the emergence of mega
cities making Pakistan as the second-most
urbanized nation in South Asia
 These two demographic changes-population
growth and urbanization, have resulted in
two developments- bulging youth and
sprawling towns/cities
PopulationofPakistan(Urban&Rural)
Urban
37%Rural
63%

4.  Slow economic growth & lack of resources to provide
social safety nets are creating frustration and
despondency in youth in the backdrop of policy vacuum
& inadequate governmental measures to tackle the
situation
 These are very ominous trends as huge number of
unemployed youth in the fifth/sixth most populous
country is not only waste of human resources but a
potential threat for the security and stability of the
country
 There is thus need for new models to enhance decent
employment and livelihood in agriculture sector including
support to employment opportunities along the entire
agrifood market chain and the associated service sectors
Introduction

5.  Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan's
economy as it contributes over 21% to its
GDP, employs 45 % of its total work force and
earns more than 60 % of its exports earning
 Besides providing backward and forward
linkages, it helps in containing
inflation, reducing poverty, ensuring food
security and supplies raw material for its major
industries
 Over time, it has also become the main
integrating force of the country as the economic
structures of all provinces and regions are now
interdependent upon one another due to
agriculture
 However despite the above importance of
agriculture in the political economy of
Pakistan, it has not got the social
Overview
Trendof PopulationGrowth(Urban& Rural)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
Percent
Urban
Rural

6. Urban & Rural Population ( Pakistan)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Urban Rural
Millions
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Urban & Rural Population Growth rate- Pakistan
64.7
35.3
64.2
35.8
63.7
36.3
63.1
36.9
62.6
37.4
62.1
37.9
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Urban Rural
Percent
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

7. Agricultural Profile
 Eighty six percent agriculture farms are
below 5 hectares with average farm size of
3.1 hectares making it difficult for families
to survive
 Agriculture sector is vulnerable due to
lack of proper infrastructure, storage and
value addition
 Cultivable agricultural land has reduced
due to development of housing colonies
on prime agricultural land
 Pakistan is losing 40,000 acres of
agricultural land every year due to
degradation owing to salinity problem
EmploymentByIndustry-Pakistan2010-11(Percent)
45%
14%
7%
16%
5%
11% 2% Agriculture
Manufacturing
Construction
Trade
Transport / Communication
Community Service
Others

8. Agricultural Profile
 Overcrowding on agricultural land, diminishing
farm produce have resulted in migration of farm
worker in large numbers to the urban areas
 The prospects of rural youth finding decent work
is limited
 The opportunities for work outside agriculture
make the situation for young rural people
particularly uncertain
 There is negligible level of policy and investment
intervention that focuses explicitly on rural youth
and on youth employment opportunities in the
agriculture and agribusiness sectors
Bank Lending bySector
58.4
10.0 8.8 8.8
4.0 3.3 2.0 4.8
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
ManfgW
ater/Power
Trade
AgriRealestate
Transport
Constr
Others
Percent

9.  Even young agriculture university graduates do not wish to
work in the field; they prefer to work in offices in urban areas
Agriculture is not Attractive ?
Year Agriculture Veterinary Total
2001-02 10280 0 10280
2002-03 9840 586 10426
2003-04 8981 659 9640
2004-05 13036 690 13726
2005-06 8383 766 9149
2006-07 11260 1610 12870
2007-08 13140 1986 15126
2008-09 16505 3999 20504
2009-10 15465 4874 20339
2010-11 17133 2975 20108
Punjab Specific Statistics

10. Agriculture is not attractive ?
 Farming is a difficult life and offers no
attraction to the youth
 It is considered high risk as it is dependent
on rainfall and has marginal returns
 Farmer is considered to be less
important, low income, low societal
standing, hard work with no dignity
 Young people see their parents struggling
with meager resources, which is
demotivating
 Even if young people wanted to go into
farming, they are discouraged by the family

11. Understanding Rural Youth
 The aspirations of youth are not compatible
with the opportunities available to them in
farming sector
 Aspirations are not just about economic
opportunity - status is important; agriculture
is unappealing to young people because it
does not bring status regardless of economic
outcomes.
 Higher poverty rates and lower socio-
economic status in rural communities
negatively impact on the aspiration levels of
young people.

12. Understanding Rural Youth
 Urban economy provides no attraction
to rural youth even if alternate
employment is low paid
 Farming is being regarded as not a
livelihood, but is a way to survive ...
where there is no other option for many
 Many do not even own the land - they
toil the land- just for survival
 There is large-scale migration out of
farming

13. Strengths of Rural Youth
 More educated than their elders
 More knowledgeable due to internet and
electronic media
 Much more enterprising
 Looking for a change in lifestyle
 Willing to work hard
 A huge human capital available to be
utilized in the best interest of the country

14. Need to Remodel Agriculture
 The way agriculture is packaged for youth is not
appealing and is not an occupation of choice
 Agriculture needs to be demystified it needs to
be made more appealing and technology driven
 Agriculture needs to develop a renewed profile -
as a viable and innovative, modern sector that
can offer decent work and can be attractive to
youth
 Young people are never praised in media for
being farmers. Farming does not enjoy a
favorable image in the media compared to other
professions

15. Need to Remodel Agriculture
 There is a need for a coherent approach and
indeed a raised profile for farming - family
agriculture needs to be re-motivated and
dignified
 Small-scale farming is not an option preferred by
the young. farming is increasingly the
occupation of older people and in particular
older women
 Young people aspire to leave agriculture as there
are no/few incentives to engage in farming other
than the lack of alternative opportunities
 Youth will go into agriculture when it offers real
business opportunities

16. Remodeling Available Opportunities
 Government should come forward with a
comprehensive agricultural policy with
incentives, opportunities and facilities to engage rural
youth in agricultural activities.
 This policy framework should provide guidelines for
legal framework, institutional mechanism, and clear
roles of private and public sector respectively to
actively engage the rural youth in agricultural and
non-farm rural activities
 There are three broad areas of rural economy in which
rural youth can be gainfully employed-farming
including livestock, inputs provision and processing
•Skill formation, technical support, banking finance and markets linkage should be the four
pillars of any plan of action to attract rural youth to agriculture/agribusiness

17.  Private sector, research institutes, civil society
organizations and donors should come forward to
support development of a plan to support rural
youth build their own agribusinesses
 Private sector can play a key role in support of new
business models that enable the expansion of rural
and urban jobs and provide information on skills
gaps and labour market needs, as well as offer direct
support to capacity development
 Private sector should develop a network of small
meat, milk, poultry and fisheries units for youth in
the form of groups and clusters in rural areas to
integrate with their own requirements
Remodeling Available Opportunities
These units should be a source of raw material for relevant industry also providing
reasonable compensation to these units

18. Remodeling Available Opportunities
 SMEDA should be asked to establish dedicated
facilitation centers for rural youth
 Technical & vocational training institutes should
train the youth in relevant fields
 Banks should be asked to offer loans to rural youth
under a scheme against partial credit guarantee and
partial mark-up takeover by government
 Government should negotiate with donors such as
USAID to integrate their existing matching grant into
such business models
 Local Civil Society Organizations should actively
participated in these efforts

19. Some On-Farm Agribusinesses
 Feedlot fattening farms (For group of 10 youths)
 Dairy farms (For group of 10 youths)
 Poultry farms (organic meat and eggs)
 Fish farming
 Milk collection Centers
 On-farm vegetable pack house (For group of 10
youths)
 Honey bee keeping

20. Some Non-Farm Agribusinesses
 Collection & marketing of farm products (For
group of 10 youth)
 Farm machinery rental centers (For group of 10
youths)
 Small cold stores (For group of 10 youths)
 Warehouses for grain storage
 Small value addition units for jams, pickles
etc., and their marketing
 Small butter and yogurt making and marketing

21. Specimen of a Business Model
Rural Youth
Business
Unit
Industry/
Trade
Banks
SMEDA/
Research
TEVTA
Etc.
Govt.
WORKINGCap.
Training Business Plan
Mark-up Support
Partial Credit Gtee.
CSOs (Coordination Role)

22. Conclusion
 Rural entrepreneurship cannot be developed
without proper training
 Dedicated training programs need to be
developed for rural youth to become
entrepreneurs. SMEDA, TEVTA and Business
Schools can help in developing an integrated
training program
 Rural youth need to be motivated to take up
entrepreneurship as a career, with training and
sustaining support systems providing all
necessary assistance

23. International Models
for Rural Youth
Entrepreneurship

24. EGMM in Andhra Pradesh
 The Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM), which was
established by the Andhra Pradesh state government in India, is a good
example of a successful, pro-migration employment generation scheme for
rural youth.
 It relies on an extensive network of 800,000 self-help groups that work closely
with the business community to help rural youth find formal-sector
employment
 Rural academies provide short high-quality, focused training courses in retail,
security, English, work readiness and computers
 Youth trained in the program earn about three to four times the income of a
rural farm household in the state

25. The Rural Finance and Community
Improvement Program, Sierra Leone
 The objective of this initiative is to help the rural poor, especially youth, gain access
to financial services by establishing financial services associations.
 Each formally registered association enables rural communities to access a
comprehensive range of financial services.
 It capitalizes on informal local rules, customs, relationships, local knowledge and
solidarity, while introducing formal banking concepts and methods.
 The current associations are wholly managed by young people.
 Each association has a manager and a cashier selected by the program from the local
community.

26. The San Francisco Agricultural School in
Paraguay
 The San Francisco Agricultural School is run by the Fundacion Paraguaya
 The school’ curriculum combines the teaching of traditional high-school subjects and
technical skills with the running of 17 small-scale rural enterprises, most of which
are based on the school’s campus
 All enterprises are strictly based on existing market demands and, for this reason,
the income generated from them covers all the running costs of the school, including
teacher salaries and depreciation
 All of its students are productively engaged either in wage employment or self-
employment within four months of graduation
 Teacher accountability is very high because their own salaries are directly dependent
on the immediate success of the school’s enterprises (ILO, 2008)

27. Employment creation for rural youth in
NENA
 Sizeable enterprise development projects for young people are being funded by
IFAD in Egypt and Syria
 In Egypt, the focus is mainly on agro-processing and marketing activities in key
high-value and organic agricultural export sectors
 Private banks will manage loans and close links will be established with agricultural
exporters
 The project is being implemented through community development organizations,
which will take the lead in identifying youth participants
 It is expected that 30,000 jobs will be created by the project during its eight-year
lifetime
 The project in Syria focuses on promoting youth enterprise in agricultural marketing
activities in a poor area of the country

28. Thank you