LocationsFuture of jobs, agriculture and beyond
September 17, 2024
Future of jobs in agriculture and beyond
At the Summit of the Future in September world leaders will agree on a Pact For The Future. It seeks to ensure that youth and future generations “fulfill their full potential and secure decent, productive work and quality employment”. We know from the Future of Jobs Report that future jobs will be driven by technology, digitalisation and sustainability. Jobs will grow for specialists in artificial intelligence, analytics, information security, e-commerce, renewable energy engineers and installers. More jobs for heavy truck drivers, vocational and higher education teachers, mechanics and agricultural machinery repairers too.
Jobs now are in short supply
However, jobs are in short supply and fewer women than men are in the formal labour market. In 2024, there are 402 million persons without a job but wanting to work with a larger jobs gap in developing countries and for women. Worldwide, only 45.6% of working age women are employed compared 69.2% for men. In India, the latest national figures show that only 25.2% of urban females participate in the labour force. This suggests that fewer women are seeking employment as 40% of urban females and 71% of rural females are self-employed.
Governments are implementing strategies to create jobs that target manufacturing, export-oriented sectors, and technology driven services. The reality is that agriculture is still a major employer. Globally, agriculture is the second largest employer after services and employs 27% of the labor force with a higher proportion in Africa (48%) and Asia (29.3%).
Creating future jobs begins with agriculture but goes beyond
Creating decent, productive and quality employment for the future must begin with agriculture and go beyond. For instance, raising wages for 45.8% of the Indian population currently engaged in agriculture - 64.3% of women and 37% of men. Increasing opportunities outside agriculture also has a positive effect on farm wages.
There are three ways to begin with agriculture and go beyond: revitalize jobs and livelihoods by connecting producers to consumers, re-imagining producers as consumers, and harnessing agri-food systems to stimulate enterprise development.
First, revitalize jobs and livelihoods in agriculture
Start by boosting returns for jobs and livelihoods in agriculture. By directly connecting producers who are farmers, livestock herders, fisher folk and forest dwellers more directly to consumers they can get higher returns, add value to their products and capture more of the value they create while reducing post-harvest losses. There are excellent examples of how technology including blockchain is being used to capture value that goes directly to producers. UNDP India has supported the Spices Board India of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry with financial support from Japan to build a prototype blockchain-powered traceability platform for Indian spices.
Second, re-imagine agricultural producers as consumers
Second, go beyond agriculture by recognizing that agricultural producers are also consumers. Fill this consumption gap by providing more agricultural inputs, intermediary goods and services directly to agricultural producers. Growing jobs for the future means creating jobs that produce goods and services targeted at agricultural producers and rural communities. A good example is UNDP’s support to digital technologies that bundle farmer access to insurance, financial products and improved technology.
Third, re-design entrepreneurship support around agri-food systems
Third, grow ecosystem support services linked to agri-food systems to engage entrepreneurs outside agriculture. More jobs are needed outside agriculture to attract young people with diverse skills. Emerging talent in India based on areas of study by undergraduate students is mainly in Arts followed by Science, Commerce and Engineering & Technology. Similarly, postgraduate students are mainly studying Social Science followed by Science and Management.
Agri-food systems provide an opportunity to leverage agriculture to create jobs outside agriculture that use these available skills. Agri-food systems are actors, their value-adding activities engaged in the production of food and non-food agricultural products. It includes storage, aggregation, post-harvest handling, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, disposal and consumption of all food. UNDP is strengthening the ecosystem that supports young female and male entrepreneurs who add value to agricultural food and non-food products. This creates sustainable jobs beyond farming in processing, marketing natural products, cosmetics, fashion and natural medicine.
Growing agri-food system-based enterprises is needed as a response to rising urbanisation and the demand for food and natural products. It also harnesses the benefits of public and private investment in digital public infrastructure that is lowering the cost of doing business and barriers to entry. With more attention to reversing the trends in pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change it could create greener jobs to preserve nature and our future.
Hope for secure, decent, productive work in the pact for the future
Against this backdrop there is hope that all people can indeed secure decent, productive work. Policies and investments for job creation must revitalize jobs in agriculture; re-imagine agricultural producers as consumers to stimulate jobs outside agriculture; and re-design entrepreneurship support around agri-food systems to grow businesses.
The Summit of the Future will draw to a close with a big push to have a comprehensive Pact for the Future. Let us work together to protect the needs and interests of present and future generations. We can grasp this moment of hope and opportunity to craft and implement actions that create sustainable jobs in agriculture and beyond to build and preserve our natural wealth for generations to come.
