ABSTRACT In light of rising levels of youth unemployment in South Africa, now at 50 per cent, research was undertaken to better understand the paradox of young people turning away from agricultural employment in spite of such high levels of unemployment in the country. The research brings to light new evidence of youth perspectives on contemporary attitudes, experiences and expectations of work in the agricultural sector in South Africa. The research took a narrative-based approach using SenseMaker as a tool for blended qualitative and quantitative data collection. A sample of 573 youth narratives was drawn from across three sites in the KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. Findings show that attitudes towards careers in agriculture vary greatly. While a set of negative perceptions emerged from the narratives as anticipated, approximately one third of the respondents expressed a clear interest in and passion for agriculture. This interest persisted in spite of a range of pervasive social norms and stigmas. However, these positive aspirations tended to be at odds with the kinds of jobs created by an increasingly corporatised food regime. The research addresses two key policy documents: The National Development Plan and the National Youth Policy, contributing toward the growing body of literature seeking to understand how agricultural policy based on principles of “accumulation from below” may be formulated. It also provides an empirical evidence base for activists, educators and policy-makers interested in the role of the agricultural sector in addressing youth unemployment in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa.

中文翻译：

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我们准备好了，系统还没准备好——青年对南非农业职业的看法

摘要 鉴于南非青年失业率不断上升，目前已达到 50%，因此进行了研究以更好地理解尽管该国失业率如此之高，但青年人却放弃农业就业的悖论。该研究揭示了青年对南非农业部门当代态度、经验和工作期望的新观点。该研究采用基于叙述的方法，使用 SenseMaker 作为混合定性和定量数据收集的工具。从南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省、林波波省和西开普省的三个地点抽取了 573 篇青年叙事样本。调查结果表明，人们对农业职业的态度差异很大。虽然正如预期的那样，叙述中出现了一系列负面看法，但大约三分之一的受访者表达了对农业的明确兴趣和热情。尽管存在一系列普遍存在的社会规范和污名，但这种兴趣仍然存在。然而，这些积极的愿望往往与日益企业化的食品制度所创造的工作类型不一致。该研究涉及两个关键政策文件：国家发展计划和国家青年政策，有助于越来越多的文献试图了解如何制定基于“自下而上积累”原则的农业政策。它还为活动家提供了经验证据基础，