Digital Tools to Attract Rural Youth to Agricultural Professions

In Mali, the agriculture sector is the main provider of jobs for the 180,000 young people who enter the labor market each year. However, the professional opportunities in this area remain unattractive. A lack of modernity, development prospects, and low incomes are all factors that discourage entry into agricultural professions and give them a negative image. They are also reasons that push some young people to move to urban centers in search of other opportunities.

Supporting the economic development of these rural youth gives them the means to stay in rural areas and become the drivers of modernization and improvement in the Malian agricultural sector.

Over the past ten years in Africa, digital platforms for farmers have multiplied. The Jeunes ruraux, Inclusion Numérique et innOVation (JINOV—Rural Youth, Digital Inclusion and Innovation) project integrates the use of digital tools in agricultural professions in order to modernize and upgrade them.

These tools promote social inclusion of young farmers and extend their network. They also improve information flow and data sharing around such areas as food prices and cultivation techniques. In addition, these tools facilitate access to training and provide farmers with the possibility to chat directly with a specialist, via phone or smartphone.

To educate a wider audience, JINOV also offers information sessions and basic training with digital tools for the entire rural population.

In the Kati and Niono territories, JINOV supports 120 young people. The project offers them a plan for developing their activities, with a special focus on the needs of young women. In the regions of Koulikoro and Ségou, 168 cooperatives benefit from training and activities focused on digital tools. JINOV also references 420 family farms and follows them twice a year.

Improving the professionalization of young rural people allows them to make a decent living from their activity, which in turn reduces the rural exodus. Moreover, promoting good practices and more sustainable farming methods contributes towards resilience to climate change and the preservation of biodiversity.