Every year, thousands of young people in rural areas of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean face a difficult decision. In their communities, internet access is limited or even completely absent, educational opportunities are scarce and income from agriculture is often insufficient to build an independent livelihood. They see more opportunities in the cities, although there are no guarantees there either. Many therefore decide to leave their community.
Their departure has consequences that extend far beyond the families they leave behind. The agricultural sector loses a generation that is essential for introducing new technologies, increasing productivity and modernising production methods. The problem is not that young people in rural areas lack talent or motivation, but that they are given insufficient opportunities to develop their skills. For years, we have discussed digital connectivity in rural areas at seminars and conferences and in reports, while numerous communities continue to lose their younger generations.
Major differences in internet access
Data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), published on November 3 in the report Facts and Figures 2026, illustrate the scale of this challenge. Although 76 percent of the world’s population uses the internet, regional differences remain significant. In cities, 82 percent of residents use the internet, while in rural areas this is only 63 percent. In Africa, where only 42 percent of the population uses the internet, the share of internet users in urban areas is still more than twice as high as in rural areas.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the situation is relatively more favourable, but regional averages conceal major inequalities. ITU statistics for the Americas also include the United States and Canada, countries with a high degree of digital connectivity. This makes it difficult to determine the true extent of the digital gap in rural areas of Latin America and the Caribbean.
This problem has been documented for years. A 2022 study by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), conducted by Sandra Ziegler and Joaquín Arias Segura, estimated that 72 million residents of rural areas in Latin America and the Caribbean did not have an internet connection that met minimum quality standards.
The study found that only 43.4 percent of the rural population had an internet connection that was actually usable, compared with 79 percent of the urban population. Although these figures date from 2022, they show the scale of an inequality that requires continued attention.
Young people are digitally skilled, but lack opportunities
The gap becomes even more worrying when we look at younger generations. According to the ITU, in 2026, 86 percent of young people worldwide between the ages of 15 and 24 use the internet, compared with 74 percent of the rest of the population. Young people are more familiar with digital technologies and understand their potential. Yet many living in rural communities do not have the necessary facilities to fully make use of these opportunities.
The digital transformation is already changing the way food is produced. Sensors that enable more efficient water management, weather information available via smartphones, product traceability systems, access to markets, digital financial services and applications that can identify pests expand opportunities within agriculture.
Many of these tools can be particularly valuable for small and medium-sized agricultural producers, provided they are accessible and meet their needs.
However, technology alone does not change a community. People are needed who can understand, adapt and apply the technology. Young people can play a decisive role in this, both on their own farms and by offering technological services to other producers.
Education and internet access must go hand in hand
This brings us to a fundamental issue: the relationship between digital connectivity and education. For decades, we have emphasised that education is one of the most important means of combating poverty and expanding opportunities. Today, that observation takes on special meaning for rural areas.
It is not enough to provide a community with internet access if young people do not have the education needed to use this technology productively. Internet access opens a door, but education, vocational training and economic opportunities enable people to actually walk through that door.
Schools in rural areas should therefore also become centres where young people gain access to technology and training that correspond to the economic activities of their region. Agricultural extension services can engage young people from the communities themselves as technicians, trainers and promoters of innovation. This combination can strengthen agricultural production while at the same time creating new employment in rural areas.
Governments must prioritise digital connectivity
What needs to be done? First and foremost, governments must regard digital connectivity in rural areas as a development priority and not solely as an issue of telecommunications infrastructure. Universal service funds, coverage obligations for telecommunications providers and public and private investment can help expand networks to areas that are currently underserved.
In addition, the cost of internet access must be reduced. The fact that network coverage is available somewhere does not automatically mean that residents can afford the service. In many countries, the cost of devices and internet services remains a major obstacle, especially for low-income families. Programmes that provide rural schools with internet access, affordable equipment and rates tailored to the financial capacity of families can help narrow this gap.
Internet and education alone are not sufficient
However, it would be a mistake to think that digital connectivity and training alone are sufficient to prevent the migration of young people to cities. Young people also need access to credit, farmland and sales markets, as well as conditions that make economic activities within their communities viable. The decision to remain in rural areas must be a free choice that offers prospects for progress, not an obligation arising from a lack of alternatives.
The private sector also bears an important responsibility. Telecommunications companies, technology companies, suppliers of agricultural inputs and agricultural enterprises depend on producers who are able to apply innovations and maintain competitive production chains. Their involvement must translate into investment, training, employment and technological solutions that correspond to the practices of small and medium-sized farms. This also means that commercial opportunities must be created for businesses led by young people in rural areas.
International cooperation must deliver concrete results
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean can learn much from one another in this area. There are valuable experiences with digital agriculture, technical education, agricultural extension and producer organisations. These initiatives can be applied on a larger scale through closer cooperation between countries and regions.
However, the exchange of knowledge and technology must be turned into concrete projects with demonstrable and measurable results. We now have sufficient studies and analyses to understand the scale of the problem.
We know that digital connectivity in rural areas is unevenly distributed, that costs remain high for many families and that the lack of opportunities prompts many young people to leave for the cities. What is now needed is for this knowledge to be translated into policy decisions, investments and programmes whose results can actually be measured.
Young people must be able to determine their own future
The aim is not to persuade young people to remain in rural areas at any cost. It is to provide them with the conditions in which they can determine their own future, develop their skills and find in agriculture a modern, productive and dignified source of livelihood.
The future of agriculture will depend to a large extent on our ability to offer new generations in rural areas the same opportunities to learn, innovate and make progress as the opportunities they currently seek outside their own communities.
Jorge Werthein
Senior adviser to the Director-General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
