Young people and the rural economy: syntheses and implications.

The research presented in this book uses qualitative and quantitative analysis to address the dominant narratives and 'conventional wisdom' about youth and the rural economy in sub-Saharan Africa. This final chapter synthesizes the empirical findings described in the previous chapters and sets out their discursive and practical implications for policy relating to youth, agricultural and rural development.

Young people and land.

This chapter attempts to articulate why an understanding of rural youth livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa requires an appreciation of what is happening with land. The chapter (i) reviews available evidence on how young people access and use land; (ii) clarifies linkages between land access and other livelihood decisions and outcomes of interest; and (iii) identifies remaining knowledge gaps and discusses strategies for filling them.

Are young people transforming the rural economy?

This chapter uses household survey data to address three questions: How might we think about the notion that the youth bring something new to farming? What aspects of young people's farming are visible with existing empirical windows? Do the young in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) farm differently? The analysis provides some support for many of the stylized assertions about the youth in African agriculture. Young households are associated with marginally higher propensities for engaging with intensification practices and commercial orientations. However, the very limited magnitude of these age effects suggests much caution should be exercised in making the argument that young people's inherent vim and vigour are important and underutilized assets for agricultural growth and transformation in SSA.

African youth and the rural economy: points of departure.

This introductory chapter first situates the current interest in Africa's rural youth, and the place of this book, within the broader discussion of policy narratives. It then identifies seven narratives about rural youth in sub-Saharan Africa that channel much contemporary policy and development intervention. Following this the argument that runs through the book is outlined. The key conceptual resources that the various chapters draw upon are briefly introduced in the next section. The last section provides a brief summary of each of the subsequent chapters.

Are Africa's rural youth abandoning agriculture?

This chapter presents evidence concerning young people's engagement with the rural economy in Africa, and uses this evidence to ask whether young people are indeed leaving agriculture en masse, and if so, what they are doing instead. The focus is on broad patterns of engagement, and how these are affected by gender, age and other markers of social difference. The discussion is framed by established debates around the emergence and importance of the rural non-farm economy (RNFE), linkages between farm and non-farm activities, and the changing nature of rural livelihoods - all set against a backdrop of structural transformation.

Empirical windows on African rural youth.

This chapter focuses on the different empirical windows that have been used to study young people's economic lives and livelihoods. A selection of primarily quantitative, primarily qualitative and mixed method studies is analysed in terms of the questions addressed, methods used and the scale of the spatial analysis. Following this, the methods used in the research presented in this book are described and situated in relation to the larger body of literature touching on youth and the rural economy. The final section makes some specific recommendations on how these windows and methods might be improved to gain greater, more policy-relevant insight on young people's lives and livelihoods, in all their diversity.

The social landscape of education and work in rural sub-Saharan Africa.

This chapter draws on qualitative research into youth livelihoods in four sub-Saharan African countries that has addressed the local social dynamics of work and education from the perspectives of young people themselves. Firstly, it illuminates the extent to which the youth in the four different national contexts value education. It then turns to young people's lived experiences of juggling both schooling and work from an early age, highlighting the wide disparity between idealized notions of 'transition' and the complexities of youth livelihoods. Finally, it explores the gendered dimensions of this social landscape, and how these produce different pressures that force young women in particular out of education. The chapter concludes with implications for young people's current and future engagement with the rural economy, and for education policy.

Are rural young people stuck in waithood?

This chapter interrogates the increasingly popular notion of waithood, and particularly the idea that most young people are stuck permanently in waithood because they cannot enter the labour market. Based on empirical data gathered from young rural women and men in Uganda, Ethiopia and Nigeria, the meaning of farming and other economic activities in their lives, particularly in relation to social status, is presented. Other avenues for claim making on social recognition, status and respect are then analysed, with a focus on marriage, family life, and active citizenship. Throughout the chapter the gendered nature of the process of becoming a social adult is emphasized.

Young people's imagined futures.

This chapter explores the futures that rural young people in Africa imagine for themselves, and how they relate to both their current engagement with the rural economy, and the narrative that suggests a widely held desire to abandon agriculture and rural areas. Beyond imagined future economic activities, including farm and non-farm work, the chapter highlights the place of education and migration in young people's imagined futures.

Mobility and the rural landscape of opportunity.

This chapter looks at young women's and men's strategies for mobility in rural economies in Uganda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire. It draws on livelihood, life history and photo-voice interviews, as well as focus group discussions, with young people across 16 sites in the four countries. The chapter focuses on spatial mobilities resulting from: involuntary relocations because of conflict in society and/or disruption within the family setting; relocations for education; and relocations for work. The analysis investigates in particular the gendered nature of youth mobilities and immobilities, and their implications for livelihood building.