RURAL YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND COPING STRATEGIES IN THE NEAR EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (NENA) REGION

1
RURAL YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND COPING STRATEGIES IN
THE NEAR EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (NENA) REGION

• by Samir Radwan
• IFAD Governing Council Roundtable on
• Promoting Livelihood Opportunities for Rural
  Youth
• Rome, Feb. 14-15, 2007

2
I. INTRODUCTION

• Youth Unemployment in general, and rural youth
  unemployment in particular, constitute the most
  serious problem in NENA Region.
• The region has the highest world rates in total
  and youth unemployment (Table 1).

3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
II. UNEMPLOYMENT PROFILE

• Table 3 indicates that urban unemployment is
  higher than rural unemployment in some countries,
  which can be explained by rural-urban migration
  in escape from the concentration of poverty,
  underemployment and poor basic services in rural
  areas.
• In Yemen for example, the rural out-migration is
  significant due to heavy concentration of land
  ownership. In Morocco, the lack of job
  opportunities in rural areas discourages job
  seekers.

6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9

• The Unemployment Problem in NENA is essentially a
  youth problem, with the highest rates of
  unemployment in the 15-29 years age bracket.
• As to Education Level, unemployment is higher
  among graduates of secondary schools and above in
  a number of countries.
• The agriculture sector did not succeed in solving
  problems of rural unemployment, poverty and
  inadequate food security. The sectors
  contribution to employment and value added had a
  downward trend in most countries (Table 5).

10
(No Transcript)
11
The Unemployment Problem takes different forms

• a) Labor Surplus Diversified Economies
• b) Marginalized
• c) Oil Rich Economies
• Patterns of Rural Development
• (i) The transition to a Market Economy
  negatively affected the small landholders and
  the landless. (Urban bias).
• (ii) Globalization and trade Liberalization but
  major access problems
• (a) the difficulty to compete with heavily
  subsidized products of advanced countries,
• (b) supply-side constraints related to the
  need for capacity building.

12
III. COPING
STRATEGIES(1) The Supply SideDemographics
Rapid population growth and delayed decline in
fertility led to a 3 growth rate in working age
population in last decades (world highest rate),
now 2.7.(a) Productivity can be enhanced by
involving the private sector in the design of
training material, and by considering the
privatization of training services, establishing
skill standards, upgrading the training
centers.
13

• (b) Rural-urban disparities in education and
  learning achievements ruralization needed
  through a decentralized education system.
• (c) Increased ICT-penetration in rural areas
  improves rural people's 'employability' thus
  the need to address problems of illiteracy, high
  ICT-cost , inadequate ICT-infrastructure in
  marginalized areas and insufficient online
  Arabic material/software.
• (d) Female employment can be increased through
  enhanced infrastructure roads, transportation,
  proximity of schools childrearing facilities,
  women extension agents, and improved access to
  credit
• (ID-cards, birth certificates).

14

• (2) Structural Factors
• (a) Earlier agrarian reforms did not solve
  the problems of land concentration. Meanwhile,
  land fragmentation hampers the use of modern
  technology raises costs of production
  marketing.
• (b) Success stories establishment of firms
  to manage a number of farms according to
  economies of scale was encouraged and coop's
  strengthened through capacity building. State's
  role is to provide technical assistance to new
  owners simplify land leasing registration
  procedures.
• (c) Irrigation water better managed by
  rationalized consumption through cost recovery
  (tariffs), decentralization community
  participation, technological support capacity
  building, setting institutional legislative
  frameworks.

15

• (3) Drivers/Inputs to Rural Development
• (a) Technology constraints to
  technology-adoption can be reduced by
  establishing buffer prices in face of the
  uncertainty vis-à-vis returns to investments,
  and establishing insurance systems as a
  drought- mitigation policy.
• (b) Access to credit can be enhanced if
  Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) apply best
  practices including full autonomy in pricing
  collection, and if they access international
  finance based on MFI 'rating' by acceptable
  international rating firms.
• (c) Business Development Services (BDSs) can
  support off-farm business for rural
  diversification purposes (vocational training,
  assistance in marketing and in formalization of
  status).

16

• (4) Institutional and Legal Frameworks
• (a) NENA's CSO sector needs strengthening.
  Farmers non-farm laborers face difficulties in
  forming/joining unions. Domination by large
  landowners could be reduced if rural coops are
  strengthened.
• (b) Active Labor Market Policies (ALMPs) There
  is a need to strengthen the employment search
  offices, expand their services to the informal
  sector and set up village local offices. ALMPs
  have better impact if targeted to particular
  categories. Youth sub-minimum wage could be set
  at a lower level.
• (c) An improved environment for investment and
  openness to the world economy leads to enhanced
  competitiveness.
• (d) Increased regional migration by effectuating
  Arab migration agreements, and enhancing
  integration (through skill standards on-line
  labor market information).