The Organics Europe Youth Network is a dynamic coalition of young leaders and organisations across Europe dedicated to empowering the voice of youth engaged in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems. Coordinated by IFOAM Organics Europe, this independent, bottom-up initiative unites stakeholders from young farmers to businesses and academia. The network emphasises the importance of generational renewal in agriculture, aiming to integrate youth perspectives into policymaking and address challenges faced by young organic farmers.

Shaping the future of organic farming

These are the Organics Europe Youth Network’s main objectives:

About the network

Generational renewal is also a core priority not only at the policy level, but also in terms of resilience and governance within the European organic movement, founded on strong principles (health, care, ecology, and fairness), and systemic visions of our food systems successfully carried forward for many decades by pioneers and passionate people. To build on those values, the new generation is vital. 

To streamline this work, the Organics Europe Youth Network brings together organizations across Europe that represent organic youth or significantly work on topics that relate to young organic farmers and operators all along the organic value chain. The Organics Europe Youth Network is a bottom-up and independent initiative, coordinated by IFOAM Organics Europe and acts as the voice of the young organic movement in Europe. The Network unites actors all across the supply chain, from young farmers to B2B businesses and even the academic sector.

As one of its first activities after its official inauguration, the Network adopted a proclamation collectively calling for greater representation of youth perspectives in agricultural policymaking and declaring its commitment to contributing to the empowerment of the voice and needs of young organic farmers and operators. 

Another highlight was the publication of its first the first Position Paper on Generational Renewal in July 2025. The paper highlights the urgency of supporting young organic farmers who are building a cornerstone of the sustainable transition of European agriculture and sets out concrete policy recommendations in seven key areas: tailored funding and finance, CAP, access to land, fairness in supply chains, reforms to unfair trading practices; organic- and agroecology-integrated vocational education; and investment in rural infrastructure and services.  

Who we are and where we are from

Generational renewal is a must-have, not a nice-to-have

European agriculture is facing an aging population, triggering worrying challenges regarding European food security, resilience, and the long-term viability of the entire food and farming sector. In 2020, only 6.5% of farmers were under the age of 35 and the average European farmer is 57 years old. Simultaneously, the number of farms in the EU decreased by approximately 37% between 2005 and 2020, highlighting the broader structural changes occurring within the sector. 

With this context in mind, encouraging generational renewal and attracting and supporting young farmers and entrepreneurs to join the food and agriculture sector as a viable career path becomes increasingly important to ensure food production in Europe. 

Organic agriculture has a crucial role to play here: Generational renewal and the fostering of organic agriculture go hand in hand. The statistics in Europe are very revealing.

The European Commission acknowledges the link between addressing generational renewal and promoting organic farming, stating that “Young farmers want to be the drivers of innovation […]. Concrete examples are the growing organic sector and agroecological farming practices which prove to be attractive options for younger farmers, combining economic possibilities with environmental results and social responsibility.”

Challenges faced by Young (Organic) Farmers

Despite broad agreement on the need for generational renewal, encouraging more young people to pursue a career in food and farming presents significant challenges. Namely, young farmers and entrepreneurs face numerous obstacles, including limited access to land and a lack of financial and technical support. Official data indicates that more than 50% of all the applications for loans and financial instruments from young farmers were declined due to restrictions in bank policy, compared to 32% for older farmers. Furthermore, almost 30% of the rejected for financing young farmers were also considered ‘high risk’ by the banks against 4% for older farmers. Without adequate loans from banks, it becomes extremely difficult for young individuals to acquire suitable land, machinery, and essential tools to get started in an already capital-intensive profession. 

Another barrier is related to education and knowledge. According to the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA), over 60% of the farming community relies solely on practical experience gained at the farm level and there are only limited channels available to pass these practices on to future generations. Especially for young potential farmers that want to adopt organic farming practices, the formal learning pathways at universities that teach organic and agroecological practices are very limited. For instance, to date, there are only a handful of programs in Europe that offer organic agricultural studies. Also, in terms of independent advisory networks, the access to impartial and farm-tailored advice as well as peer-to-peer exchanges are crucial to support farmers in the conversion process and adoption of organic farming practices. However, access to these services still differs largely from region to region and needs to be further extended and improved, especially to help young professionals.

Youth engaged in organic food and farming encounter additional challenges, including the need to navigate complex and inconsistent regulations. This can impede their efforts to start or grow operations and to establish sustainable practices. Additionally, broader structural issues inherent in the current food and farming sector in Europe, such as the need for fair compensation and improved working conditions, further complicate the situation. These challenges hinder the next generation’s ability to enter and succeed in organic agriculture. 

Young Organic Farmers: Driving the Sustainable Transition of the European Food System

Organic farmers are an important piece of the puzzle in advancing the sustainable transition of our European food system. Through organic farming, young farmers share a commitment to making long-term investments and adopting environmentally friendly practices that offer significant benefits for both the environment and rural communities. For instance, organic farming practices can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in synergy with providing benefits for biodiversity protection, increase soil carbon sequestration, and at the same time contribute to adaptation by making farming systems more resilient to the effects of climate change (check out the multiple benefits of organic farming for climate and biodiversity here or in this infographic).

The European parliament acknowledged in its 2023 report the important role of young farmers in the green transition, highlighting that “young farmers and new entrants are more likely to introduce innovative business ideas, promote shorter food chains, apply new technologies and production methods and implement sustainable farming practices, including agroecological practices and organic farming”.

The EU’s Work on Generational Renewal: Current Efforts and Initiatives

The European Union recognizes generational renewal as a key challenge for the future of agriculture, acknowledging that an aging farming population threatens the resilience and sustainability of food systems. To address this, the EU tries to incorporate young farmer support into its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms, offering financial aid, income aid, and rural development interventions. Importantly, in its roadmap document published on February 19, 2025, entitled “Vision for Agriculture and Food: Shaping together an attractive farming and agri-food sector for future generations”, the European Commission acknowledges generational renewal as a key priority, among other things to be addressed in the Generational Renewal Strategy that will be delivered in 2025. Organic food and farming is presented by the Commission as an important and attractive opportunity for innovation among young farmers, combining economic possibilities with environmental results and social responsibility. 

Additionally, each European Commissioner will hold annual Youth Policy Dialogues, encouraging young people to share their insights on EU policy initiatives. DG AGRI’s first Youth Policy Dialogue took place on 11 December 2024 under the theme of “Building together the future of farming, food and rural areas”. It brought together young people active in various agricultural, rural, and environmental youth organization to engage with Commissioner Christophe Hansen on three main topics: economic viability, sustainability of the food system, and generational renewal in farming and rural areas. Following up on this event, in a joint declaration, participants of the European Commission’s Youth Policy Dialogue sent a clear message to Agricultural Commissioner Hansen, that “only by strong involvement among all stakeholders, including youth, can we achieve the common vision of a resilient, innovative, and sustainable European farm and food system for all.” 

How we started

Every two years, IFOAM Organics Europe hosts the Organics Europe Youth Event, which brings together youth who are enthusiastic about sustainable agriculture and food systems and all that it entails. This includes a diverse group of professionals, including farmers, students, researchers, certifiers, processors, activists, and politicians, among others. At the last edition of the event in 2024, a small group of passionate youth gathered in an in-depth workshop to brainstorm about how to conceptualize a European-level, cross-sectoral youth group for the organic movement – that’s how the seed was planted.
At the annual organic trade fair BIOFACH, the network was officially inaugurated on 13 February.