BACKGROUND:
The development of a country or a community depends very much on young people. In the case of the rural sector, if we do not manage to involve young people in development proposals, we will not be sustainable over time. Youth is the potential for the transformation of their spaces due to their greater willingness to change, their aspirations and the constant search for opportunities, so they require better education, facilities for access to media and facilities for access to resources.
The total population of Peru is 31,237,385 people. 7,869,821 people (25.2%) are young people (15 to 29 years old), of which 6,390,292 are young people located in urban areas and 1,479,529 are rural youth (Population and Housing Census 2017-Peru). More than 50% of these young people in urban areas today are young migrants from the rural sector.
Rural youth not only face the difficulties of youth such as access to education, early pregnancy and lack of employment, but also have to face the difficulties of the rural world such as low coverage and low quality of public services, precarious housing, almost no access to land ownership.
In reality, low productivity in the agricultural sector, the small area of land managed by families and education not linked to agriculture mean that young people have no motivation to stay in the countryside. They cannot access land ownership, they do not have basic services or adequate connectivity, there is no permanent or decent paid employment. In the case of women, conditions are further aggravated because they cannot make decisions for themselves either to leave their rural world or to have the opportunity for education.
The pandemic generated by COVID-19, makes us look at the rural sector as hope, the countryside did not stop supplying the cities with food, many young people who studied and worked in the cities returned to their communities when study centers were closed and when they lost their jobs due to the closure of factories/companies or not being able to carry out their activities in the trades. Many if them built temporary housing on their family farms, escaping the risk of contagion in the population centers.
Agriculture is a highly vulnerable sector to the effects of climate change, economic crises, drug trafficking, informal mining, illegal logging, human trafficking, it is also one of the most unstable and unpredictable sectors, because it does not allow to determine if the market will demand the product it harvests and the price it will obtain for them.
In the case of Café Femenino, a very strong awareness-raising work has been done so that parents facilitate their daughters’ access to education and access to land ownership to participate in the Specialty Coffee Program and thus directly receive the value of what they produce and have the freedom to dispose of what they use it.
This project objective is the development of productivity and management capacities so that rural youth are able to face the challenges of sustainable agriculture in Northern Peru.
UPDATE:
Module I: Leadership for Entrepreneurship Topics presented:
– What are the ways to make a living?
– The DNA of the entrepreneur
– Role Play
– Vision Statement
Two workshops were held:
• In the morning with the students of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade of secondary school of IE San Antonio de Padua 17063. In this module we also have the presence of the students of the 1st and 2nd Grade of Secondary.
• In the afternoon with the directors, internal inspectors and promoters of the Community of San Antonio, Huamboya, New York and Roblepampa.
Objective:
The first module focused on affirming confidence in each participant, awakening their interest in seeing what they want for the future, reflecting on the range of opportunities and committing to work to achieve their dreams.
• To substantiate the principles and foundation of agroecology
• Knowing and applying agroecological technologies for the management of production systems
• Managing facilitation tools to promote the development of agroecology and organic production.
The methodology used has been oriented to reflection, discussion and debate in a participatory way: conferences, analysis and discussion, work groups, directed work, field practices. The content:
• Agroecology and organic production
• Ecological soil management
• Production and management of organic fertilizers
• Ecological management of pests and natural biocides
Module II: Organic Agriculture Topics:
– Concept
– Principles
– Certification process
– Proceeds
– Agroecological techniques
– Challenges
Two workshops and a field visit were held:
• The morning workshop was with the students of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade of secondary school of IE San Antonio de Padua 17063.
• The afternoon workshop was with the directors, internal inspectors and promoters of the Community of San Antonio, Huamboya, New York and Roblepampa.
Both the morning and afternoon classes participated in a field visit to the coffee plot on the Educational Institution’s land where a quick diagnosis of the current situation was made. It was determined that the main coffee plant damage was due to lack of water and the deficient fertilization.
The second session focused on the concepts, challenges, opportunities, benefits of organic agriculture with the goal of expanding the knowledge of the students giving them more information to plan what they want to do in future.
Workshop: Agroecology and Preparation of Organic Fertilizers including information on:
• Crisis energy and its global, regional and local repercussions
• Food crisis a global, regional and local problem
• Crisis of fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizers
• The impact of conventional agriculture on tropical ecosystems
• Sustainable food systems
• Main threats to sustainable agri-food systems
• Destruction of the productive valleys of the coast, the mountains and the jungle
• Impact on livestock
• Impact of pollinator pesticides
• Strategies to massify agroecology as a model of sustainable production
Workshop: Preparation of Solid and Liquid Organic Fertilizers including information on:
• Promoting the preparation of compost to feed the soil
• Promoting vermiculture to produce humus
• Use of worm breeding leachate
Module III: Associativity and Articulation for Local Development Topics:
• Legal framework of associativity in Peru
• Types of associativity
• Diagnostics: current situation, economic, social, environmental problems – concept, advantages, difficulties, reason why associativity fails
• Successful experiences of associativity and articulation.
Workshops held in both the regions of Cajamarca and Amazonas.
With this module the outcome was to confirm the interest of the students for associativity; and to affirm the interest in strengthening the organizations as the fastest strategy of accessing services and promoting entrepreneurship to improve their living conditions for the managers, promoters and inspectors.
Results Obtained To Date:
• Addressing the issue of associativity and articulation, we see a heightened interest in solving the economical, social and environmental problems facing the directors and teachers of the Educational Institution of Progreso San Antonio
• The Conference on Organic Agriculture and the Preparation of Solid and Liquid Organic Fertilizers has been affirming the decision of the partners that organic agriculture is a viable and sustainable proposition for small producers and security that it is possible to improve soil fertility by preparing fertilizers with inputs that are in the area such as cattle manure, goat manure, guinea pig manure, dry straws, household waste and green stubble.
• Active participation of managers, promoters and inspectors in the preparation of organic fertilizers.
• Young people’s interest in environmental issues has improved.
Anticipated project outline completion date is expected to be May, 2023.
PHOTOS:
Click on photos to see description
San Antonio
Pampa de Sequez
