WLE is developing a youth-inclusive research agenda and approach to sustainable intensification in which a healthy functioning ecosystem is seen as a prerequisite to agriculture development, resilience of food systems and human well-being. WLEs starting point is to equip young men and women to be major stakeholders and active participants in agriculture and natural resource management by raising their confidence, promoting youth leadership, and enhancing their ability to build successful careers and have an active voice in decision making in agriculture and natural resource management. A two-pronged approach is required: at an individual level, appropriate capacities and capabilities need to be developed to take up irrigation and other agricultural and NRM technologies. At a structural level, research will identify opportunities for policy and institutional reforms to enable youth to benefit from water, land and ecosystems access. The aim is to identify how to enable rural and peri-urban youth to sustainable and entrepreneurial farmers, managers and professionals.
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