Six Stories of How Young People Are Essential to End Rural Poverty, Curb Rural Migration

In El Llano, fish is never part of the menu, even on festivities. But three young people set out to change things and set up a fish farm to offer fresh fish to their neighbours.

With a grant of 5 000 USD, Escarlin Méndez, David Medina and José Decena acquired three ponds, a submersible well and 4 000 small fish to start the business in which they have put all their hope.

“Our project has potential; it will be a boom in the town. In addition to offering fresh fish to the community, when the water is drained from the ponds, it can be reused as fertilizer for crops,” explains Esquerlin.

Filling a need in the community

“My husband and I planned to go to Santo Domingo because of the lack of opportunities. Now I don’t want to leave here,” explains Jocabed Leger, who runs her village’s only agribusiness, a community relying mostly on agriculture and livestock keeping.

With the grant from FAO and IFAD, Jocabed opened this agro-veterinary business to cover a need in her community.  The demand for their products is so high that in the future they would like to open a branch in a nearby community.

“This business is my life, and it is proof that you can invest in young people,” she says enthusiastically.

Eduardito de la Rosa is an agricultural technician from the municipality of Comendador, in Elías Piña. He is 34 years old and has always been involved in agriculture, but until now the lack of credit had not allowed him to carry out his own projects.

Eduardito received 3 000 USD from the FAO and IFAD project and after participating in two courses in organic agriculture and entrepreneurship, he built a compost pile on a land given by a friend and bought the worms needed for vermiculture.

“Our soils are very poor. They have been badly treated with the use of chemicals and this affects the environment. That’s why I chose a vermiculture project, to try to change the perspective of farmers. This is the technology of the future,” he says.

Now his goal is to become the largest producer of organic earthworm fertilizer in his country. He is convinced that this is the best way to leave a better planet for generations to come.

Young people are an essential part of solutions to rural poverty. Investing in rural youth can help make agriculture an attractive sector and benefit entire communities.  FAO is supporting the innovative ideas of youth to give them the opportunity to better their communities and achieve a #ZeroHunger future.

*SOURCE: FAO. Go to ORIGINAL. 2019 Human Wrongs Watch