PR - KNOWLEDGE NEEDS OF YOUNG FARMERS IN THE EU

Abstract:
A project has been commissioned by the European Commission (DG AGRI) to identify the needs of young farmers and to design an exchange programme tailored to the needs of young farmers. To achieve this, a survey was carried out among 2,205 farmers younger than 40 in all 28 EU Member States. In addition, in each Member State a focus group was organised (or a few additional interviews with relevant stakeholders were performed if it appeared not possible to organise a focus group in a country) to validate the results of the survey.
The results showed that young farmers have different needs, depending on the region in which they live (new MS or EU15), the agricultural sector in which they work, their education level and their farm situation (owner of the farm or not). This indicates that knowledge offered and exchange programmes should be tailor-made to the specific needs of young farmers. They should have the opportunity to ‘design’ their exchange programme themselves, taking their time and financial constraints into account, so that they can obtain the knowledge and experience they need.
Keywords: young farmers, knowledge needs, exchange programmes