Abstract
The disconnect between the perceptions of the agriculture sector in terms of skills and competencies needed by workers and the abilities of agriculture graduates and others entering the workforce is existent throughout much of the world and especially in the Arab world. Economic development cannot be sustaining until this disconnect, a skills-gap, is resolved. This chapter provides an overview of the skills and competencies needed in agriculture and the perceptions of the extent graduates possess those skills and competencies. A system for identifying the workforce development priorities, namely high importance and low worker preparedness, is described. The last section of the chapter provides a mechanism to identify what skills and competencies agriculture teachers and faculty need to develop and enhance in order to teach students the skills they need to enter and be successful in the agriculture sector.
TopThe Need For A Competent Workforce For Agriculture Development
In May 2017, the World Economic Forum issued an Executive Brief on the future of jobs and skills in the Middle East and North Africa. The report indicated several common themes regarding workforce issues and agricultural development. The labor markets show a low but increasing level of workforce participation by women and a reliance on foreign workers. Additionally, high rates of unemployment and under-employment especially among young workers and the relatively well-educated workers continues to be a detriment to an expanding workforce. Throughout the Middle East and North Africa region, it is estimated that only 62% of its full human capital potential is realized. And as the world economy continues to evolve, automation can become a concern when thinking in terms of welcoming new workers into the workforce. The Forum proposed that the current challenges will require broad reforms and public-private collaborative efforts.
A policy brief published by FAO in 2020 outlined various aspects of the need for skills development in the agriculture sector of Lebanon. In that country up to 25% of the Lebanese workforce draws its income from farming and related work. A similar situation exists in Syria. An issue raised in that policy brief was that the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture has remained well below 1% of the total expenditures of the government for most years over the past three decades. The overall lack of sufficient funding has led to challenges for the extension system throughout the country. These shortcomings disproportionately affect poor farmers and contribute to sustained inequalities in the agricultural sector. A similar situation exists for the technical and vocational education training programs. Enrollment in the agricultural technical schools is low, which leads to a lack of a trained workforce in agriculture.
Maiga et al. (2020) purported that there has been a declining trend of youth participation in agriculture since 2000 in low- and middle-income countries, mainly in favor of the service sector, which precipitates migration from rural to urban areas. Increased educational attainment for rural youth coupled with inability to rent or own land is a driver of urban migration. In addition, the increasing ageing farmer population in rural areas exacerbates the demographic pressure on land at the expense of the youth. A further constraint on youth engagement in agriculture is a lack of education in disciplines related to agriculture or skills training. Various studies of youth have shown that a large majority identified knowledge of farming practices as a pre-requisite to setting up a viable farm. Further, government initiatives to increase skills and productivity have generated interest among youth in joining the sector, and vocational training has been viewed as increasing the likelihood of a successful career in agriculture. Such findings challenge an assumption common in policy proposals that youth are not interested in agriculture. With the development of information and communication technology (ICT), young people have more opportunities to strengthen their skills and access relevant information and are therefore well positioned to understand market dynamics and institutional and financial systems, enabling them to initiate and capitalize on processes of change in the agricultural sector. Therefore, perhaps the youth themselves are not the central problem in agriculture workforce development.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Skill-Gap Analysis: An outcomes assessment tool to measure skills and competencies that are important to employers and in need of development by potential workforce participants.
Borich Model: A mechanism used to prioritize inservice education needs of instructors and faculty based on competency importance and instructors’ knowledge and ability to perform.
Competency: Knowledge, behaviors, attitudes and even skills that lead to the ability to do something successfully or efficiently.
Agricultural Development: The process that creates the conditions for the fulfilment of agricultural potential including the accumulation of knowledge and availability of technology as well as the allocation of inputs and output.
Agricultural Sector: Farms and ranches, agribusiness sales and services that support farms, ranches and other entities, food manufacturing, processing and storing facilities, and restaurants.