Suggested interview questions: Why and how youth can get involved in agriculture

Script

• Are youth in this area involved in agriculture? What proportion of youth are involved in agriculture? Is it common, or uncommon?
• What supports or programs exist to help youth get involved in agriculture or agribusiness?

• What aspects of crop and livestock production, or other food-related businesses are they involved with? (Keep in mind that food-related businesses vary from farming-related businesses such as agricultural services provision to restaurants and food transport.)
• How do these youth typically find themselves to be involved in agriculture? Are they working on family farms, attending training centres, etc?
• Why do you think these youth are interested in being involved in agriculture?
• Can you give us an example of a successful youth from this area? (Note: arrange an interview with this youth!)
• What sort of supports help youth to be successful in agriculture in this area? (ie. Training, mentorship, access to land, credit, technology, etc)
• What sort of supports are needed to better support youth in agriculture?

• Why are youth not commonly going into agriculture?
• What jobs are you in this area commonly taking?
• Do you think youth feel that agriculture is not modern enough or that working as a farmer means taking a step backwards and their occupation is of low status?
• Do you think youth can make a good income through agriculture or agribusiness in this area?
• What training or mentorship resources are available to youth in this area? Are they interested in it and can they access it?
• What sort of administrative requirements are needed for farmers or entrepreneurs, such as licenses, standards of compliance, etc? Is that a barrier for youth?
• Do youth lack access to land, credit, or transportation to the market? Is that a barrier in this area?
  • What schemes or programs are available to support youth entering agribusiness?
  • What is the typical process of succession on farms in this area?
• Are there ways the community or senior farmers are or could support youth in learning about agriculture, contributing to decision-making, and entering agribusiness?
• Are youth more interested in some parts of the agriculture value chain than others? If so, which parts? For example: marketing, processing, catering, transportation to urban or peri-urban markets, consulting, etc.
• As well as the barriers that all youth face in engaging with agriculture and food-related businesses, are there specific barriers for young women who wish to engage? If so, what are they?
  • For example: Do young women have more difficulty accessing land, training or credit? Are there cultural, social, or religious reasons young women do not feel comfortable engaging in farming?
• Are there particular programs or schemes that can support women in farming or agribusiness? What programs or schemes do you think should be developed to better support women in this domain?

• When did you get started in this business?
• Why did you want to get started?
• What support did you have to get started?
• What was the first major challenge you faced in getting started? How did you overcome this?
• Do you think youth in this area are interested in working in agriculture or agribusiness? Are they more interested in certain aspects of farming or certain parts of the value chain?
• Do you think attitudes towards farming are different with your generation than previous generations? Why?
• What support do you think youth need to be successful in agriculture or agribusiness? (Youth can ask particularly about education / training / mentorship, land / credit, technology)
• How do you see technology shaping the future of agriculture?
• How do you see climate change shaping the future of agriculture?