1. Youth and land: Lessons from IFAD-supported projects Harold Liversage International Fund for Agricultural Development Land and Poverty Conference, World Bank, March 2015

2. Why invest in young rural women and men? Agriculture as engine for growth and food security Requirements for energy, innovation and physical strength Key to meeting the world’s future food needs But young farmers face challenges in accessing land

3. Challenges Refrains from starting a farming activity Young farmers have to wait years before inheriting their share of land Land use decisions made by elderly On-going subdivision of land Effects of climate change HIV/AIDS pandemic has resulted in increasing land grabbing For young women it is even more difficult to acquire land

4. Options to facilitate access Group acquisition of land and cooperative farming (Family) land transfer intra-vivos Distribution by the state Facilitating sharecropping arrangements Relaxation of controls on rental Strengthening of legislation and legal services to youth in order to recognize and defend their rights to land

5. Sierra Leone Rehabilitation and Community Based Poverty Reduction Project Long-term leases of large areas of land for tree crop production Agreements between youth, land owning family, Paramount Chief and Local Council Targeting young women and men who have no or little access to land or are unemployed

6. Egypt West Noubaria Rural Development Project Reclaim land to produce food Loans for land – with a 30-year repayment period and a grace period of five years Targeting the country’s large number of unemployed graduates

7. Mozambique Pro-poor Value Chain Development Project in the Maputo and Limpopo Corridors Assessment of specific land tenure situation and needs Civic education on the Land Law and associated legislation Equitable access in irrigation schemes and new cassava production blocks Representation of youth in institutions managing grazing land

8. Conclusion Programmes addressing access to land should include special provisions to assist young people