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The Future Is in Farming
Source language: Turkish

Is There a Future in Farming for Young People?

TARIMKON Proje Ekibi 16 October 2026 · 4 min read · 33 views

One concern came up again and again at project meetings in different provinces: young people are moving away from farming. The campaign's fourth theme asks the question openly and looks for answers not only in technology but in the conditions of rural life.

Signals from the field

At a harvest and marketing meeting in Seyhan, Adana, on 14 November 2025, participants noted the rising average age of farmers and said young people do not see farming as a secure livelihood without a guaranteed market. At a planning meeting at TAGEM in Şanlıurfa, migration, hard working conditions and the poor image of farming were named as the main reasons young people and women leave agriculture. Another Şanlıurfa meeting noted serious gaps in young farmers' access to transport, training and technology transfer. In Kemalpaşa, İzmir, the loss of young people was called a major risk for local agriculture. In Sakarya, participants said industrial, housing and transport development on fertile plains was driving up land prices and making land harder for young farmers to obtain.

Technology can be a pull factor

The project's training materials treat young people as part of the solution, not the problem. According to the presentation on technology adoption, young people have the highest digital literacy in rural areas and are the most open to innovation; agriculture graduates and young farmers returning to the countryside are the ones who will bring new technologies to villages. It sees youth and technology together as a source of prestige that could reverse rural out-migration. The "From Data to Message" material of the advocacy training turns the finding "young people are not going into farming" into the message "Farming is done with technology."

But technology alone is not enough

The campaign document frames the podcast topic for this theme broadly: the appeal of technology, but also social life, services and job opportunities in rural areas. The campaign's day-five messages say the same: "Technology in the field, social life in the countryside: young people need both." and "Let's work together to build the opportunities that help young people produce and live in rural areas."

What policy says

According to the project's Agricultural Policy Monitoring Report, a Presidential Decision of 14 September 2025 introduced additional support for young and women farmers in areas such as greenhouse crop production. It notes, however, that there is no detailed public data on how far young and women farmers actually benefit, and recommends a "support access scorecard" broken down by young, women and small-scale producers. The Anatolian Farmers' Council's 2025 report goes further: support for women and young producers should not be just an extra payment but a package that combines additional support, mentoring and advice with market links, aimed at keeping them on the farm. Its reasoning is simple: when generational renewal in farming stops, production capacity falls.

Women are at the heart of this too

The training models presentation notes that women do much of the farm work, yet training is usually attended by the men who own the land; it recommends scheduling sessions around women's workload. In Urla, the need of women farmers and women agronomists for guidance and technical advice was raised with the municipality.

Young people's voices belong here

The project contract defines this hub as a meeting place for young farmers and activists, with at least 20 young people taking part in producing its one-minute advocacy video, five expert and activist video streams and five podcasts. Young people's views, messages and short articles will be published here.

What do young people need most to stay in rural areas and farm? Access to land, a secure market, training, social life or something else? Add your view to the discussion in the Digital Advocacy Hub.

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