No module Published on Offcanvas position

Highlights

 

UN Youth Delegate Programme Participation in decision-making is one of the key    priority areas of the United Nations agenda on youth. One form of youth participation at the United  Nations is through the inclusion of youth delegates   in a country’s official delegation to the United  Nations General Assembly and various functional  Commissions of the Economic and Social  Council.The youth delegate programme is  coordinated by the Focal Point on Youth at the  global level, but it is the responsibility of the  Member States to establish a youth delegate  programme at the national level, and to decide who  will represent the young people of their country. The roles of a youth representative varies  from country to country, but normally includes providing input to their delegation on issues related to youth and participate in their delegation’s general work through attending meetings and informal negotiations.

A French farmer displays wheat near his combine during summer harvest in Mons en Pevele, northern France. Young farmers make up a small proportion of EU farmers, but hope to have more of an impact in the future.

The European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) has launched a campaign Future…Food…Farmers aiming at raising public and political awareness as well as enhancing the role of young farmers in shaping the future of Europe’s agricultural system. Recent figures from the European Union Eurostat show that farmers over 55 years old account for more than 50 percent of farm holders in all 27 European Union countries; the number of young farmers aged under 35 make up less than seven percent of agricultural producers. Young farmers, however, often perform better than older farmers, demonstrating “40 percent more economic potential, 37 percent more hectares of utilized agricultural area and 26 percent more annual working units,” according to the Rural Development in the European Union report.

In 2014 when storms and rain crashed into this fertile Macva area, 11 hectares of land on the Petrovic farm was flooded, most of the raspberry canes, carefully nurtured and cultivated by Petrovic family, were completely destroyed and the remaining canes started drying after the floods. Jovan gave up of any hope of profit from raspberry sales in the current or the next year.

He filed an application for support from the „EU assistance to flood affected areas in Serbia“ and in autumn 2014, FAO delivered to the family 1,800 high-quality, certified raspberry canes of the Tulameen variety, which yields very large and sweet raspberries produced mostly for the fresh market.

 

Entering into farming is becoming increasingly difficult; young farmers in Europe are facing many challenges. These include exaggerated prices for farms and farmland, rising competition in the global marketplace and increasing ecological and safety obligations resulting in additional restructuring costs. In addition, existing subsidy programs for young farmers at the national and EU level remain largely ineffective.