The current theme – June 2024

Youth and Agroecology

The agricultural and food systems, being one of the biggest sectors of any developing country, provide a wide spectrum of opportunities for the engagement and employment of young people. However, conventional farming, per se, is considered unremunerative and does not always provide decent livelihoods. Moreover, the youth with their rising aspirations find it hard to remain in the sector. Large-scale migration not only adversely affects the rural economy, but also imposes a resource burden on urban towns and cities. The policies and programmes which can help rural youth find meaningful occupations, in rural areas itself, would go a long way in productive youth engagement.

Shift to natural and organic farming, considering its multifarious benefits on economics and ecology and growing preference by the consumers, provides a great opportunity for engagement and employment for the youth. Youth by nature look forward to recognition and occupations which enhance their self esteem. Organic farming involves skillful practices as well as creates pride in being recognized as niche pursuit. These systems are highly dependent on specialized practices, for instance, making vermicompost, seed treatments, use of biopesticides, etc. which the younger farmers may be willing to learn and pursue. Also huge opportunities lie beyond the boundaries of the farm fields, in post-harvesting, processing, value adding, marketing, and trade, where youth could be gainfully employed and recognised.

There is a growing trend of educated, youngsters taking up farming in a professional way. Also, enterprising youth are venturing into agri businesses and startups offering support to a large number of farmers in various ways. Most of us are also aware of the rural young women becoming skilled in using drones in farming.

In our June 2024 issue of LEISA India, celebrating our 100^th thematic issue, with focus on youth in farming; we would like to look into certain dimensions like, their experiences as new age farmers; opportunities for skill building; support from the government for various activities- be it farming or a startup; their aspirations and challenges. How is social media helping them in pursuing farming? We would also like to include experiences of institutions and organisations in helping youth in building farm based livelihoods.

Articles for the June 2024 issue of LEISA India should be sent to the editors before 10th May 2024 at leisaindia@yahoo.co.in

Guide to Authors

LEISA India publishes practical field experiences on sustainable agriculture. The magazine offers an opportunity for those working in agricultural development, particularly in diverse, risk-prone and resource-poor regions, to publish their field experiences and to read about the experiences of others. LEISA India is published four times a year, and each issue deals with a particular theme.

Guidelines

Articles should fit in the theme of the issue, for which it is being submitted. Kindly read the call for articles and check if the article fits well with the theme.
Articles should be practical field experiences. Articles which simply describe a technology or a process will not be encouraged for publication.
Explain any terms or ideas that may not be understood in every part of the world.
Acknowledge all sources and references used.
Explain any abbreviations used.

In order to present clear and accessible information, authors are recommended to describe:

The context – agro ecological, social and environmental
Challenges and the reasons for the approach taken to improve the situation
The initiatives – process and nature of initiatives
Time frames – when did this all happen
Changes/impact – physical, social, economical, ecological and cultural
Reasons why things worked out as they did. (We appreciate opinions / analysis / conclusions relevant to field level, as well as recommendations for policy makers).

Full editorial support is provided. As the articles go through a rigorous editorial process, authors are usually requested to provide additional information or clarifications.

Format

The length of the articles should be within 2500 words.
Articles should be submitted as a soft copy in Microsoft Word format.
Mention for which issue/theme is the article being submitted
Include no more than three references (any references should include at least year of publication, name of author, and publisher);
Provide a current contact address, at the bottom of the article itself. This will also be published in the magazine.
Include 2-6 photos, relevant to the article, providing suitable captions. Photos should be sent as separate image files. Image files should be of good resolution (file size should be a minimum of 500 kb). Provide photo credits, wherever applicable.

The editors reserve the right to decide whether or not to publish an article or contribution, after receipt of the first full draft. Articles that are accepted will be edited to LEISA India house style and shortened if necessary. Articles accepted for publication in LEISA India English edition may be chosen for translation and publication in any of the seven regional editions of LEISA India.