Chapter-19: Youth Engagement in Digital Agriculture

This study on youth engagement in digital agriculture was conducted using a primary data collection approach through a structured online survey to explore how young people interact with digital technologies in agriculture and the Agri-food system. The study targeted researchers, students, and young professionals and yielded 65 valid responses collected purely for research purposes. The socio-demographic profile shows that almost 60% of respondents were aged 20 to 25 years, 56.9% of the respondents were female, 80% were students followed by 16.9% researchers. In terms of technology use, mobile applications were the most commonly used digital tools for agrifood system activities, mainly for weather, climate information and communication or networking. The major issue faced was poor internet connectivity at 43.1%. Key benefits experienced using digital technology included better decision making (63.1%) followed by access to knowledge and time saving. For future improvements, 60% of respondents wanted affordable digital tools, followed by 49.2% seeking government support and policy intervention. The biggest barrier in developing technology was lack of funding, reported by nearly 50% of the respondents. Personal experience emerged as the main inspiration for developing future technologies, and mentorship was the top resource needed, followed by access to technology. About 40% agreed that digital technologies encourage engagement in the agrifood system, with AI tools (29.2%) and social media (23.1%) being the most influential. Additionally, 53.8% used digital tools for decision making, and 33% felt knowledge sharing was the key benefit of engaging other youth through digital technologies. key challenges in engaging youth in decision-making is the Lack of interest which accounts for 40%.  The study suggests that youth are willing and already active, but the ecosystem around them needs to be strengthened to turn interest into sustained innovation and impact in the agrifood system.