Involving Young People to Revitalize Grassroots Organizations

Organizations age over time just like we do. To remain vital, they must continuously incorporate fresh energies and perspectives from younger participants. To recruit and retain young members, organizational leaders need to understand and address their needs and build meaningful opportunities for them to get involved. Some grantees, like the two agricultural groups discussed here, have used their IAF funding to involve youth participants. Including young people has made their organizations better able to adapt to new sales outlets and opportunities. 

Sustainable Agriculture Schools in El Salvador

Fundación para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico y Restauración Ambiental (Fundesyram) has been working with Indigenous Náhuatl Pipil residents in the department of Sonsonate, El Salvador, since 1992. Fundesyram promotes sustainable agricultural practices drawing on Indigenous traditional knowledge to help farming families secure adequate nutritious food.  

Fundesyram has developed a nation-wide network of 80 community organizations pursuing sustainable agriculture. A couple of years ago, network participants realized with dismay that the bulk of participants now consisted of older members. They deliberately invited young people (under the age of 29) to join the network’s committees. As a result, they now lead the network’s communications committee, advertising new products and activities. These young people have taken on traditional sustainable agricultural practices while marketing their products in new ways on social media. 

The network has also developed sustainable agriculture schools, where participants (60% youth) learn how to build, plant, and cultivate a seedbed. They also learn how to create and market value-added products, as well as how to run an organization. This training allows young people to try out potential job roles in technical assistance, sales, or leadership. The agriculture schools contribute to young people gaining new marketable skills and strengthen their rootedness in the area. Some graduates of the sustainable agriculture schools have even formed their own cooperative.   

Part of what the organization is selling to young people is the prospect of living an agricultural lifestyle. As one young person stated, “I didn’t want to be a farmer, because since I was little I’ve been in the fields with my dad. It’s a very demanding job and you don’t earn well—that’s what I thought. When I started the sustainable agriculture school, it was more to meet people and have a good time. But then I realized that sustainable agriculture is a way to produce healthy food. I also learned to diversify my crops and that helped me to have more variety to eat and market the surplus. I also learned how to market it with the training they gave me. Having my little income through sustainable agriculture motivates me to continue.”

Through its network leadership opportunities and sustainable agriculture schools, Fundesyram has successfully incorporated younger members over time. Approximately 3,200 of the 4,000 families working with Fundesyram have at least one member under the age of 29 who participates in the organization’s activities. Today, all 80 organizations in its sustainable agriculture network are actively recruiting young people, with an average of 1 in 4 participants being young. 

21st Century Skills in Ecuador 

Asociación Agroartesanal de Productores Ecológicos de Café Especial del Cantón Loja (APECAEL) has been supporting small producers of high-quality coffee in Loja, Ecuador, since 2004. Following a major drop in coffee prices earlier in the 2000s, APECAEL helped producers increase production, improve storage and processing, market their coffee, and raise coffee families’ incomes up to 500% in some cases. 

During its IAF grant period (2014–2019), APECAEL leaders identified that its members averaged around 60 years old. The organization developed a campaign to recruit more young members after receiving strategic communications assistance led by the nonprofit Minga Peru and funded by the IAF.

To attract young members, APECAEL provided comprehensive training to help young people improve their production, financial management, and leadership skills. APECAEL also provided young people with free memberships and fertilizer for their crops. This quickly brought in 12 new young members. Today, they have 18 active full members under the age of 25, three of whom participate on the board of directors. 

Incorporating young people paid off for APECAEL during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cooperative adapted quickly to working online selling through social networks. It has increased its local sales by 20% since 2020 and now distributes roast and ground coffee beans throughout Ecuador. More than 60% of the producers who work in APECAEL’s fertilizer factory are young, and they have increased production and marketing of organic fertilizers 1200% per year (from 1 to 12 tons). Young members have also taken the lead in preparing their farms for rural tourism, increasing sales. Half of the farms receiving foreign tourists belong to young people. 

Young people have also benefited from the association, learning traditional values from older members and falling in love with country living. Coffee production has become a viable option for them. They have invested their profits in fixing up their houses, investing in their own farms, buying vehicles, and supporting their parents or children. One young person said, “I entered the cooperative when I was living with my parents and didn’t have my own family yet. Now that I am the head of the family, being in the coffee cooperative helps me take care of my wife and son.”    

Inclusion Enhances Durability 

By promoting the inclusion of underrepresented groups, such as young people, IAF grantees such as Fundesyram and APECAEL have made their organizations more adaptable and sustainable over time. Just as sustainable agriculture leaders understand the importance of caring for the soil for strong harvests in the future, they understand that they need to cultivate the next generation of leaders now to keep their organizations strong for many years to come.