IICA launches virtual forums to engage rural youth in the Americas in post-Covid-19 agricultural rebuilding efforts

San Jose, 11 June 2020 (IICA). Enhancing the involvement of Latin American and Caribbean rural youth in the political, economic and productive spheres, in efforts to rebuild in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, is the aim of a series of virtual forums, organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), beginning on June 12.

The forums will engage youth throughout the region, as part of IICA’s actions to assist in toppling barriers that are restricting this sector’s access to education, technology, employment, production resources, land ownerships and health services, to name a few.

The first session will be broadcast this Friday at 9 a. m. (Costa Rica time) from IICA’s Virtual Conference Room, and on Facebook Live and the Institute’s YouTube channel.

Director General of the Institute, Manuel Otero, remarked that, “IICA is placing rural youth at the forefront of the new agriculture sector. We are promoting the idea that their skills, leadership and renewed vision should play a leading role in shaping a more equitable and inclusive “new normal”.

The forums will bring together youth leaders from the Andean, Caribbean, Central, Northern and Southern regions of the Americas, who are involved in entrepreneurship, coffee cultivation, the environment and diverse areas of study.

The virtual meetings will address concerns about agriculture in the aftermath of the pandemic, discussing how to create a more inclusive and equitable agriculture sector, and will also focus on matters related to productivity; local and international trade; associative enterprises and climate change.

This Friday’s forum will connect rural youth throughout the hemisphere. The following events will be held: on 30 June, which will compile the vision of rural youth in the Caribbean and Northern regions; on 14 July, which will focus on experiences, perspectives and recommendations for the Southern Region; on 30 July, targeting the Andean region; and finally on 6 August, which will focus on the situation in Mesoamerica.

The online series will end on 12 August, when IICA will present a virtual platform to facilitate interaction among rural youth, allowing them to brainstorm and define a new agriculture sector in the aftermath of the health crisis.

More information:
Federico Villarreal, Director of Technical Cooperation, IICA. 
federico.villarreal@iica.int