Photo: Stefan Ågren / imagebank.sweden.se

Introduction

Food production plays a vital role across all Nordic countries, with important changes underway due to the green transition. This shift brings both an urgent need and opportunity to develop innovative and green businesses, including food systems that harness natural resources to generate added value. However, there is declining interest among young people in pursuing careers within this sector. At the same time, recent global crises have resulted in greater focus on ensuring more robust and resilient food systems.

In the past decades, food systems have undergone major structural changes. These include shifts in farm size (from small-scale to large-scale operations), employment structure (from family labour to hired workers and contractors) and technology (from manual labour to mechanisation and digitalisation). Global megatrends – such as urbanisation and demographic change, increased sector-specific seasonality and evolving inheritance practices – have also had a significant impact. There are also growing concerns about an ageing workforce, relatively low levels of education, skills mismatches and the limited appeal of careers in the sector among young, skilled individuals. Moreover, given that most higher education institutions are located in cities, young people tend to make career and livelihood choices that keep them in urban centres.

All of the above factors contribute to the decrease in youth participation in food systems. In response, the “Young Nordic Food Producers – Growing Food(ies)” project, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, sector for Food, Agriculture, Forest and Fisheries, was initiated to explore the challenges and potential for increased youth participation in food systems. The project was conducted by Nordregio during 2024 and 2025. It examined reasons for declining interest among young people in pursuing careers in food systems and identified potential initiatives to spark their interest in these careers. The questions investigated were:

What are the challenges that young people face when considering a career in food systems across different occupational groups (e.g. farmers, chefs, nutrition assistants, veterinarians, food technologists)?
Which good practices can be identified in the Nordic (and Baltic) countries that have the potential to be scaled up in the region?
How can current and future producers in food systems be supported to make this sector more attractive as a career choice?
What kind of support mechanisms are needed to encourage innovation and fresh perspectives among new food producers and how can the existing ones be improved?

Food systems are defined as encompassing agriculture, fisheries, forestry/outdoor farming (including mushroom and berry gathering and hunting), along with other relevant parts of the value chain from soil and sea to table, including veterinary studies, butchery and fish processing. In addition, the food system covers processing and preparation in factories and kitchens. The primary focus is on individuals aged 15–25, but illustrative examples from the broader 15-40 age group are also included.

The report draws on statistics on status and trends within food systems, gives an overview of research and analyses in previous and ongoing studies and presents a survey among young people in the Nordic countries about their preferences and motivations for education and careers in food systems. Input from a reference group composed of young professionals and experts helped ensured relevance and grounding of the results and recommendations. The project and its findings were presented to, and discussed by, the Committee for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The investigation of the role of young people and opportunities in the Nordic food sectors focuses on the following main topics:

High expectations placed on young people as “agents of change”
The rural-urban divide
Education, family and (digital) peers
The future of work: reimagining food systems

The key policy recommendations include suggestions for dissemination and take-up aimed at boosting youth participation in food systems. While the project primarily focuses on the Nordic countries, it also incorporates the Baltic perspective where possible, extending the discussion to the wider Nordic-Baltic region and highlighting both commonalities and differences.

The findings, policy recommendations and inputs from the youth representatives were presented to the Nordic Ministers for Food at the Ministerial Meeting for Ministers of Food and Agriculture in Koupio, June 2025.

The project has been showcased at relevant meetings and fairs. In the autumn, it will also be presented at a Nordic Webinar alongside a workshop held in connection with Green Innovation Week 2025 in Denmark.

Green Innovation Week 2025

The report is expected to benefit a wide range of stakeholders, including public agencies involved in educational curricula and career development, associations related to agriculture, food processing and rural development, policymakers across the Nordic and Baltic regions and researchers specialising in agriculture, food and rural development.