Perma Village: A Way to Sustainable Living!

Looking for organizations/institutions working in the sector of agriculture, notably with youth involvement in agriculture, farming - based in rural, remote areas! Preferably with previous KA2 Project experience!

The project works to create a sustainable, self-reliant village model, build capacities of the rural communities, specifically youth with fewer opportunities and farmers, encourage and promote youth active citizenship in shaping rural communities, generate and diversify employment opportunities for rural populations at a local level and foster exchange of best practices and establish strategic cooperation at a local, regional, national and global level among sustainable, self-reliant villages.

Currently in Europe and India the medium and large-scale farms are adapting to intensive farming production models intensifying the crop yield by soil exploitation, pesticide and fertiliser use and cultivating machines that cater to the needs of the processing industry and global markets pushing small scale farms out of business. The current model is achieved by increasing the input of capital and reducing the number of people employed.

The “Perma Village: A Way to Sustainable Living!” project works with large number of farming households and villages most affected by the urbanisation and machination of farms in Latvia, Germany, Italy and India. The villages where large number of medium and small scale farms have closed, farming families have left to cities for jobs in manufacturing and service industries. Youth of rural areas has no intention of prolonging their lives in villages that do not provide the necessary needs of today’s youth - employment, transport connectivity, internet, cultural and social activities.

According to the UN World Urbanisation Prospects report, globally more people live in urban areas than in rural areas, with 54% of the world’s population residing in urban areas in 2015. In 1950, 30% of the world’s population was urban, and by 2050, 66% of the world’s population is expected to be urban.

Europe is one of the most urbanised regions of today with 73% of the population residing in urban areas and Asia, specifically India, is urbanising faster than any other region of the world. Currently 33% of India’s population reside in urban areas in comparison with 18% in 1960. The increasing urbanisation puts at risk the development of agriculture needed to ensure the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) is met.

SDG 2 works towards ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. To contribute in reaching SDG2 the main focus should be put on strengthening development of agriculture in rural areas and ensuring young people stay in rural areas, taking up farming as a viable livelihood option.