How can urban youth learn about agriculture

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Boy Scout Explorer Posts can be organized in urban agriculture. Urban-ag groups can be organized in schools, churches, synagogues, boys and girls clubs, community centers and neighborhoods. Summer camps should offer gardening, mini-farming and mini-ranching or new camps could be established.

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What is urban agriculture for young people?

Urban agriculture programs with young people are a field that is about more than growing your own herbs and tomatoes. It’s about putting in hard work for the present while also investing in the future.

Is there any concern about engaging youth in agriculture?

There is a lot of concern about engaging youth in agriculture, in many ways, young people are not very much interested in continuing in agriculture because they don’t see much prospect in the future of agriculture, they don’t see it is as an active profession in the long-run, so many of the smallholder farmers are quite aged.

Should urban agriculture be part of high school curriculum?

Watching plants grow isn’t the most interesting pastime for most high school kids. Neither is doing chores, nor going to school. Yet there are now more and more schools including an urban agriculture component to their curriculum, and hopefully increasing the number of youths in the agricultural field, experts say.

What role for youth in agriculture and food production?

Judith Musika, 22, is a member of a youth group that produces yogurt in Uganda. Youth in agriculture and food production play an important role in addressing unemployment and food insecurity. Photo by Fábio Erdos/Heifer International.

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How can I learn urban farming?

Starting an Urban Farm?Find Training. There is a great deal of knowledge and expertise involved with starting a farm. … Create a Business Plan. … Find Appropriate Land. … Test Soil. … Learn the Basics of Production. … Ensure Food Safety. … Learn about Other Urban Farms. … Explore Resources for Beginning Farmers.More items…


How can people in urban areas be involved in agriculture?

Urban agriculture includes the cultivation, processing and distribution of agricultural products in urban and suburban areas. Community gardens, rooftop farms, hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic facilities, and vertical production are all examples of urban agriculture.


What is urban agriculture and what problem might it help solve?

Urban agriculture is helping poor people cope with food scarcity and hunger. Growing crops or raising livestock in backyards or on undeveloped plots of land improves food sources and offers many urban poor a viable income.


Why should students learn about agriculture?

Agriculture education programs not only teach students how to be farmers, but also train tomorrow’s scientists, nutritionists, teachers and so much more. A combination of classroom instruction and applied agriculture experiences outside of the classroom build the foundation for educated consumers and agriculturists.


Why is urban agriculture important?

Urban agriculture allows for the development of a variety of environmental, economic, and social benefits to the surrounding communities. Urban farming can reduce transportation costs, help reduce runoff associated with heavy rainfall, and lead to better air quality.


What are the objectives of urban agriculture?

Urban agriculture (UA) is one solution that is gaining traction as a way to provide the urban poor with a safety net in times of crisis, improve food security and dietary diversity, achieve climate and urban greening objectives, and enhance economic opportunity.


How does agriculture affect the community?

Agriculture creates both jobs and economic growth. Communities also hold agricultural-based events, such as crop and livestock judging competitions and 4-H exhibits at their county fair. Many communities benefit from having Famers Markets where smaller farmers can interact directly with consumers.


How can we educate people about agriculture?

9 ways to engage youth in agriculture Link social media to agriculture. … Improve agriculture’s image. … Strengthen higher education in agriculture. … Greater use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) … Empower young people to speak up. … Facilitate access to land and credit.More items…•


How can you help educate the public about agriculture?

Here are some practical ideas for farmers who want to help educate consumers in their communities:Farm tours or other on-farm events. … School visits. … Library displays. … Fairs, farmers markets. … Service club presentations. … In-store education. … Welcome conversations wherever you are.


What do you want to learn about agriculture?

If you want to study Agriculture, you will deal with agricultural processes and their conditions. This includes the cultivation of renewable raw materials and the production of food for humans and animals. The goal is to produce food efficiently and in an environmentally friendly way.


How does urban agriculture help the community?

Urban agriculture programs can help local communities in both an economic way and a social way. They allow for people to have more immediate connection to their food, as well as help stimulate a local economy. Urban agriculture programs such as community gardens can target young people in nontraditional agriculture backgrounds, experts note.


Why is agriculture important for youth?

Agriculture programs that target young people could increase the health and longevity of a community. Urban agriculture will allow many young people to invest in their community and make it habitual, while also educating themselves and the people around them about agriculture and its systems, Hallett observes.


What is urban agriculture?

Urban agriculture is defined by Purdue University Extension educators simply as growing or producing food in urban spaces. Urban agriculture comes in many forms, but the most popular are urban farms, community gardens, and hydroponics or aquaponics programs. Urban agriculture programs can help local communities in both an economic way …


What is the garden at Thea Bowman High School?

Thea Bowman High School has an urban garden that the students are responsible for. The garden includes chickens and goats.


How can urban agriculture help the agriculture industry?

Urban agriculture and programs like the one Villwock is putting together can help keep the ag industry strong, as they will allow for many young people to have a greater understanding of agricultural systems, challenges and operating practices. This understanding will allow for better conversations around controversial topics in agriculture. Urban agriculture that features youth programs and engagement will provide a multidimensional level of understanding to its participants by teaching them how to think critically as well as work on their problem-solving skills, experts believe.


How many urban farms are there in Indiana?

Urban agriculture programs such as community gardens can target young people in nontraditional agriculture backgrounds, experts note. In Indiana there are about 20 urban farms and over 100 community or urban gardens, according to the latest statistics available.


Why is working with kids important?

Working with kids is one of the best ways to get the ball rolling, as it will bring new ideas and people into the agriculture field. ”. Funding and urban contaminants are two large issues that stop urban agriculture programs from coming to fruition. The cost that comes with starting up a farm or garden is expensive.


What is urban agriculture?

Urban agriculture, according to most definitions, is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around a village, town, or city. That locational aspect is crucial to distinguishing urban agriculture from generic agriculture, which most people associate with taking place in rural areas.


Why did children learn agrarian skills?

Children were taught agrarian skills for work deemed less draconian than earning wages in factories. Incorporating gardening in the curriculum was believed to instill a strong work ethic, and teach “appropriate social behavior to immigrants, delinquents, and the infirm”. Women work in a World War I garden, 1918.


What is the most productive and sustainable form of organic agriculture?

The so-called “French-intensive” method of growing vegetables — in which large amounts of compost are added annually to densely planted raised beds — is one of the most productive and sustainable forms of organic agriculture used today.


Why were subsistence gardens created?

Like vacant lot cultivation during the 1890s, the subsistence gardens in American cities during the 1930s were created in response to an economic crisis and intended to help meet residents’ immediate need for food. They were often supported through partnerships between municipal government and community organizations.


How much compost did Growing Power use?

In 2008, as the New York Times Magazine reported in a profile of founder Will Allen, Growing Power converted 6 million pounds of spoiled food into 300,000 pounds of compost. The organization used a quarter of it to grow enough food to feed 10,000 Milwaukee residents — and sold the rest to city gardeners.


Why did Hazen Pingree start the program?

Mayor Hazen Pingree started the program in response to the economic recession that began in 1893, which left many of the city’s industrial laborers, particularly recent Polish and German immigrants, unemployed and hungry. Pingree developed a program to substitute labor for charity.


Is it harder to combine agriculture with urban jobs?

It is however more difficult to combine it with urban jobs that require travelling to the town centre, industrial areas or to the houses of the rich. In much of the world urban populations who work in agriculture are significantly better nourished than their counterparts in non-farming households.


What is the future of agriculture podcast?

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is a part of a network called Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today.


What is the biggest challenge for ag literacy?

Acquiring accurate information and getting rid of fake news is the biggest challenge on ag literacy


What are Seth and Beverly’s experiences?

Seth and Beverly share two different programs and approaches as they cater to students from diverse backgrounds and regions. Seth shares some fascinating stories about his classroom experiences in western Nebraska and the reasons why he’s so passionate about pursuing rural education and instilling in his students a love for agriculture. Beverly identifies the agriculture programs they offer in urban education. She also mentions that for the urban students, their exposure to the amount of technology used in the agricultural sector play a significant role in generating interest in the students.


Why is agriculture important to youth?

Engaging youth in agriculture — an available, opportune and essential sector for growth — is critical to strengthening local food systems, feeding communities and providing gainful employment opportunities for the world’s booming youth population.


How does agriculture help the poor?

But consider that expansion of the agriculture sector can boost incomes of poor families two to four times more effectively than other industries , and two out of three young people outside urban areas in developing countries live where there is the most agroecological potential, and the role of youth in agriculture is, in fact, that of immense possibility — to grow more food, transform local food systems and build economies that lift entire communities out of poverty.


How old are farmers in Africa?

While much scrutiny is placed on agriculture as an aging industry — the average age of farmers in the United States and Africa is reported to be around 60 — the role of youth in agriculture is much more significant than filling the boots of the current generation of farmers.


Why is digital literacy important for farmers?

While digital literacy for rural farmers must remain a consideration, the World Bank has reported technology to have “significant potential to improve efficiency, equity and environmental sustainability in the food system.” And, where it is possible, we are already seeing smallholder farmers use digital tools to revolutionize their work around the world.


How many people will be hungry in 2021?

The COVID-19 pandemic has also battered jobs and food systems, contributing to an increase in global hunger of up to 161 million people, as reported in The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021.


How can technology help agriculture?

And technology is pivotal to this transformation — it can help agriculture by improving both how it is perceived and its productivity.


How many young people are there in the world?

The world today hosts a massive population of 1.2 billion young people between the ages of 15 and 24 — and that number continues to rise. According to the United Nations, nearly 88% of them live in developing nations, particularly rural sub-Saharan Africa and South-Central and Southeast Asia, where agriculture is often the primary — or only — source of income. And rural youth, as identified by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, already spend half or more of their working time farming.

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