Nearly half – 48.3% to be precise – of individuals in rural areas have agriculture as their primary source on income, even as most of them are willing to change occupation for better opportunities, according to a report by Global Development Incubator (GDI).

The report, titled “State of rural youth employment – 2024”, said that 70-85% of over 5,000 individuals surveyed pan-rural India wished to be employed in small manufacturing, retail, or business sectors.

However, despite the evident disenchantment with agriculture a “significant 60% of rural male youth” do not want to migrate outside their village for work, according to the report.

The report comes in the backdrop of concerns expressed by many over the reverse migration of India’s workforce to the rural (agriculture) sector, due to reasons of inadequate opportunities in predominantly urban activities like manufacturing and service delivery. It is being pointed out that while government surveys suggest a marginal improvement in the urban employment situation over the recent quarters, it also takes into account unpaid work, and the so-called self-employed at the subsistence level.

After agriculture, earnings through wage labour, and retail trade are the distant second (14.1%) and third (10.5%) sources of income, respectively, of rural working people. The report showed that about 57% of male workforce of age 18-25 years in rural India were currently “employed,” more than double of the female workforce employed. In the 26-35 years age bracket, 85% of males are employed at present in rural areas, while for females, the rate is 40%.

The report also highlighted that among salaried jobs, younger male youth expressed clear preferences to government sector or private sector jobs; and among women youth, the preference remained for government jobs.

However, speaking at the launch of the report, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said that “pessimism” on India’s employment is “not warranted”, as the country’s economy has become structurally different over the years, and specially in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.

In the backdrop of slowing global growth, and geopolitical tensions, we don’t have the “luxury” of excluding any sector, from contributing to growth, “hence, agriculture should be an engine of growth,” said Nageswaran. The CEA mentioned that “agriculture has to be brought back into fashion” and not-for-profit institutions, industry, and academicians have to collaborate together, to make the sector a viable option of employment. “Individuals should understand how the world in evolving, and not have pre-conceived notions of which sectors they want to be a part of…They should appreciate where the opportunities lie,” said Nageswaran.

Today, for instance, in Brazil, youth are participating in agriculture and farming activities, much more than they used to. “We have to find out, what’s is it that we can replicate…if we can,” noted the CEA.

The Economic Survey for 2023-24 said that of the 565 million workforce in the country, more than 45% are engaged in the agriculture sector. Of the rest, 11.4% are in manufacturing, 28.9% in services, and 13% in construction. “The predominance of agriculture in the providing employment to nearly half of the population, especially females, is both a challenge and an opportunity,” the Economic Survey had noted.

It suggested that the agro-processing sector should be seen from the lens for creating sustainable jobs in rural areas. “Given that agriculture and related industries remain the mainstay of the rural economy, increasing productivity in this sector (agro-processing) is imperative to create jobs,” the Economic Survey had said.

As per a report by InvestIndia, the Indian food processing market is estimated to reach $535 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 15.2%. The Tier-2 and Tier3 cities could mirror the trend visible in metropolitan areas by consuming more processed food in the coming years, said the survey.

The rural youth employment – 2024 has been compiled by GDI, in partnership with Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN), Development Intelligence Unit (DIU), and Transform Rural India Foundation (TRI).