Reimagining development, unlocking youth’s potential to transform lives

Having celebrated its 76th year of independence with hope and aspiration, India will remain a young nation for many years to come given its growing young population. As a result, an increasing number of young people are set to enter the workforce. Our youth needs skills that enable them to find meaningful and rewarding avenues of work and in turn help the country reap its demographic dividend.

For practitioners of development, this calls for reimagining of development with a youth-focused lens across sectors. Reimagining not just in the sense of leveraging what is new, like AI and other digital advances, but reimagining for the future of work. While building momentum for such efforts at spaces like charcha ’23, not only should we ask how we can ensure equitable access to quality education, but we should also find ways to make traditional sectors more attractive while considering ever-evolving markets, technologies and skill sets.

Among such sectors is agriculture, which is the largest employer of India’s workforce and is critical for the country to sustain its growing population in environmentally meaningful ways. Efforts are underway with big commitments from the government to transform agriculture, make it more remunerative and safeguard livelihoods of farmers. From the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund announced when the COVID-19 pandemic hit to a host of initiatives to bring in new technologies to lower drudgery in farming, it is vital for young people to be aware of these opportunities and tap them. With the right knowledge and skill set, young farmers can develop the capacity for quick uptake of new technologies and can conservatively use natural resources. They can effectively seize market opportunities, like post-harvest processing, and find ways to fully tap them.