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As global youth unemployment reaches alarming levels, a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has pointed to agrifood systems for eliminating unemployment among individuals aged 15-24 years.
The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems released on July 3, 2025 noted that more than 20 per cent of the world’s 1.3 billion young people were currently not in employment, education or training (NEET). Tackling this unemployment, particularly among 20-24-year-olds, could generate a 1.4 per cent boost in global gross domestic product (GDP), with about 45 per cent of that increase driven by increased youth participation in agrifood systems.
Globally, 44 per cent of the working youth relied on agrifood systems for employment, compared to 38 per cent for working adults. The share of working youth in agrifood systems has decreased from 54 per cent in 2005.
The report also warned of a looming labour shortage in agrifood systems as rural youth numbers fall. Today, 54 per cent of youth lived in urban areas, especially in Eastern Asia. On the contrary, rural youth made up just 5 per cent of the population in industrial agrifood systems, the authors of the report noted, urging governments to make agriculture more attractive.
Meanwhile, nearly 85 per cent of global youth lived in low- and lower-middle-income countries, where agrifood systems were essential for livelihoods. However, food insecurity among youth was also alarmingly high — rising from 16.7 per cent to 24.4 per cent between 2014-16 and 2021-23 — especially affecting young people in Africa.
Climate shocks and extreme weather events driven by climate change also posed a significant threat. An estimated 395 million rural youth are living in locations expected to experience declines in agricultural productivity, particularly in traditional agrifood systems and sub-Saharan Africa.
“The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems report provides a timely and evidence-based assessment of how decent jobs and food security for youth can be achieved through agrifood systems transformation, and how empowered youth can act as catalysts for broader agrifood systems transformation,” QU Dongyu, FAO director-general, wrote in the foreword to the report.