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Farm Parent and Youth Aspirations on the Generational Succession of Farming: Evidence From South India

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/11958/
https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.804581
doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.804581
 
Title Farm Parent and Youth Aspirations on the Generational Succession of Farming: Evidence From South India
 
Creator Nandi, R
Pratheepa, C M
Nedumaran, S
Rao, N
Rengalakshmi, R
 
Subject Agriculture
Rural Development
India
Gender Research
 
Description Agriculture remains vital in ensuring the food security of developing economies like India,
yet increasing rural-urban migration, an aging farm population, and waning interest of
rural youth in agriculture are emerging concerns. This paper focuses on the aspirations of
farm parents and their children in agriculture, the challenges they confront, and potential
solutions.We draw on qualitative data fromtwo rural sites in Southern India, different from
each other in their agro-ecological and social contexts, to point to the material, social,
relational, and structural factors shaping aspirations. First, agrarian distress, resulting
from climate variability and market uncertainty, affects farm households’ socioeconomic
status, resulting in farmers’ aspiration failure in agriculture. Farm parents then focus on
educating their children, aspiring for secure non-farm jobs for their sons, and finding
suitable marriage partners, also in non-farm employment, for their daughters. While this
steer from parents discourages youth from aspiring to careers in agriculture, in reality,
there is a wide gap in the achievement of aspirations, and a majority of youth, especially
young women, do end up working on their family farms. For the future development of
agriculture and sustainable food systems, it is essential to protect young farmers from
aspiration failures and innovate through appropriate policies.
 
Publisher Frontiers Media
 
Date 2022-02
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/11958/1/fsufs-05-804581.pdf
Nandi, R and Pratheepa, C M and Nedumaran, S and Rao, N and Rengalakshmi, R (2022) Farm Parent and Youth Aspirations on the Generational Succession of Farming: Evidence From South India. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (TSI), 5 (804581). pp. 1-17. ISSN 2571-581X