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the World Bank are uniquely suited to facilitating ERP implementation
at the national level, both within their mandates to support the advance-
ment of education and training and given their privileged dialogue with
ministries of education. UNESCO’s leadership and technical support
for ERP at the country level during this next phase would need to be
strengthened, and FAO is in a good position to contribute as a support-
ing entity to the work of UNESCO in the specific areas of FAO expertise.
Agricultural education must be redefined
Today, a broader view of the life skills necessary to thrive in rural areas
has emerged. There is a need to broaden the agricultural education
paradigm to embrace the concept of sustainable rural development.
Rural education requires a needs-based approach
‘One size fits all’ standardized education strategies are not effective
in reaching rural people, who have a variety of specialized needs
that have to be addressed to expand access and improve quality of
education and training for children, youth and adults.
There are many options for assisting rural people to develop their capacity
These options have been successfully implemented in various countries
around the world. ERP is conceived to support capacity development
for sustainable rural development, including ERP-specific initiatives.
Rural girls and women are the most vulnerable
Rural girls and women suffer geographical and gender discrimination.
Strategies to boost female literacy and rural girls’ participation in educa-
tion include removing cost barriers, strengthening rural
schools as gender-sensitive centres of quality learning, and
developing gender-sensitive learning content and school
environments.
Finally, ERP is a major challenge and an obvious opportu-
nity. The future challenges for ERP arise from the fact that
the vast majority of those excluded from education live in
rural areas. Therefore, ERP is vital, urgent and essential if
the MDGs and goals for sustainable development are to be
met. The youth of today are the leaders and the farmers
of tomorrow. Rural youth represent the majority of the
population in most of the less developed countries and an
explicit focus on their needs and potential contributions
to our common future is a matter of urgency.
The future challenges for ERP
The vast majority of those excluded from education live
in rural areas. Therefore, ERP is vital, urgent and essen-
tial if the MDGs are to be met. Preparing rural citizens
to engage successfully in knowledge-based economies,
to respond to market and climate changes, to develop
their resilience to address a variety of shocks, and to
weather food crises associated with global economic
shifts, is essential to their well-being. Helping rural
people to become active citizens contributing to peace
and democracy and enjoying long, healthy and creative
lives is central to the achievement of the MDGs.
This article is based on FAO 2009, Education for Rural People:
the Role of Education, Training and Capacity Development in
Poverty Reduction and Food Security. FAO, Rome.
Partnerships among international organizations will continue to be essential to the
success of ERP initiatives
Image: FAO
Image: FAO
Skills training for rural people: a needs-based approach