Dealing Effectively with Shocks and Stressors: Youth Survey

Have you had to respond to and recover from shocks and other severe stresses, including the COVID-19 pandemic, desert locust infestations or other natural disasters, and/or conflict?

How did you respond? We want to hear from you!

YouthPower2: Learning and Evaluation (YP2LE), on behalf of USAID/Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), is conducting the Youth in Agri-Food Systems Learning Activity to advance knowledge on approaches to, and the state of evidence for, youth inclusion in international development interventions related to agri-food systems. This activity tracks strategies, map pathways, and gauges the state of the evidence for youth contributions to the achievement of country self-reliance through RFS areas of work. As part of the research component of this activity, YP2LE is conducting a Shocks and Stressors Assessment that will identify the shocks and stressors youth in agri-food systems currently feel.

We are conducting a study on how youth (aged 18-29) respond to and recover from shocks and other severe stresses, including the COVID-19 pandemic, desert locust infestations, conflict and other natural disasters. Shocks and other severe stresses have caused significant disruption to food and water systems and severe economic dislocation to many who work in the food and water sectors. Our study includes an online survey for youth who are engaged in agriculture, food and water systems, and we are seeking the help of youth-led and youth-serving organizations that might be willing to help us capture a wide range of youth perspectives. More detail about the study follows. 

The Youth in Agri-food Systems Learning Activity (YASLA) is designed to support USAID to better understand how young people engage in and contribute to agriculture, food and water systems and their communities’ self-reliance. As part of this work, we are conducting a rapid assessment to better understand how shock and severe stresses affect young people engaged in agriculture, food and water systems. 

Overview of the Study:

The purpose of this study is to help fill gaps in the current literature by identifying, where they exist, differential patterns in how youth cope with these shocks and stressors (COVID-19 pandemic, desert locust infestations, conflict and other natural disasters), and where opportunities may exist for USAID to improve its support for youth in agri-food and water systems in response to these shocks.  

Online Survey Design:

The survey contains 35 questions and on average should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. 

If you have any questions about this survey or the Shocks and Stressors Assessment more broadly, you can contact katelynn@makingcents.com. 

Please answer the questions to the best of your ability and use the comment boxes to provide fuller answers and more insight on your experiences. Thank you in advance for your time and input!