From Sensor-Equipped Beehives to Self-Driving Tractors

How to Get Young People’s Interested in Agriculture

February 10, 2026

Photo: provided by the initiative for UNDP in Belarus

Many teenagers still picture farming as long days, hard physical work and few career paths. However, one detail rewrites the whole story: the agricultural sector is no longer just fields and manual labor. Today’s agriculture is increasingly becoming an industry of data, sensors, and precise solutions. At the same time, this transformation faces a global challenge: how do we attract those who grew up with smartphones in their hands to the industry? The stereotype of agriculture as a conservative and low-tech sector deters the younger generation, for whom digital technologies are a natural environment.

The workforce in agricultural sector is shrinking and aging worldwide. Young people from rural areas are moving to cities, leaving behind an industry that is critical to food security. Belarus is no exception: today, around 21% of the country's population lives in rural areas.

The agricultural sector faces a number of familiar challenges: a limited number of modern jobs, modest opportunities for professional growth, infrastructure gaps, and, as a result, migration of young people to large cities, where career paths seem more visible and promising.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Belarus, over the past 30 years, the number of workers in the agricultural sector has decreased more than fourfold, and the average age of those employed in this sector is 44.

This is why the staffing issue coincides with the technological one. Agriculture needs digital competencies more than ever: precision farming, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and robotics are becoming new drivers of efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness. This requires a new type of workforce—people who think like operators of complex systems: who know how to work with data, understand the logic of algorithms, and are confident using digital interfaces and automation tools. These skills develop most naturally in those who have grown up in a digital environment.

In this context, winning the attention of today’s schoolchildren becomes a strategic task. Young people are not only future employees: they can also become champions of new technology in businesses where the older generation has invaluable practical experience, but not always digital skills.

This understanding is also reflected in national strategies. The Belarusian government’s programme of activities for 2025–2029 provides for the digital transformation of the agro-industrial complex, the engagement of young people, and continuous education—from school to enterprise. But how can we show young people that the future of agriculture lies not only in the land, but also in data?

The Road to the Future initiative focused on early engagement to reshape how children and teenagers perceive agricultural professions.

Photo: provided by the initiative for UNDP in Belarus

The answer came in the form of the initiative “The Road to the Future: Developing Precision Farming Skills in Preschool and School-Age Children and Youth.” It was implemented by the Belfranchising Association and the company “Agricultural Technologies,” with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funding from the Russian Federation. The initiative focused on early engagement to reshape how children and teenagers perceive agricultural professions.

The goal was ambitious and clear: not simply to tell children that “being a farmer is cool,” but to let them experience it.

Photo: provided by the initiative for UNDP in Belarus

The goal was ambitious and clear: not simply to tell children that “being a farmer is cool,” but to let them experience it. Fifty-five educational events were held at five Precision Farming Centers across the country, attended by more than 1,000 children and 38 families. Participants learned what agricultural workers do today and which technologies are used on farms in Belarus. Not only the content mattered, but also the format: instead of the usual lectures, the program offered interactive sessions where participants could “drive” a modern tractor on a special simulator and learn to work with GIS maps. This approach helps children “try on” a profession, rather than just hear about it.

Red tractor in a plowed field under a clear blue sky. — “The tractor drives itself!”

Photo: provided by the initiative for UNDP in Belarus

One of the initiative’s most memorable elements was a series of educational events called “The tractor drives itself!” Children and adults were shown how control systems are configured, how navigation lines are created, and how the equipment “memorizes” a route and repeats it with precision. Self-driving farm machinery is an important element of precision farming: it reduces fuel overconsumption, seed and fertilizer losses, increases predictability, and reduces dependence on scarce labor.

“We’ve been hearing about this technology for years. Today we finally saw it up close, showed it to our grandchildren, and we hope that one day they’ll be operating tractors like these,” one family shared.

Another example is “Sweet Life. Modern Beekeeping” for preschoolers in Gorki. The children learned about the beekeeping profession, the skills and knowledge a beekeeper needs, and how to succeed in this field. They also saw how digital sensors help collect data about the apiary and finished the day by making frames for bees and candles from natural beeswax.

The initiative did not stop at learning. The children themselves became content creators: they filmed 40 videos about their experience and the technologies they used, which received more than 5,000 views on a specially created YouTube channel. This step transformed participants from learners to creators — into ambassadors of new technologies who share their discoveries with their peers.

The initiative’s long-term impact proved to be no less significant than its immediate results. To reinforce the knowledge, an interactive teaching aid, Modern Agriculture, was developed and is already being used in educational institutions in Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The colleges that participated in the project continued to offer precision farming classes on an ongoing basis. Building on this success, the commercial partner, Agricultural Technologies LLC, launched the next project, AgroCifra (AgroDigital), for 2025–2026, expanding the geography of training for schoolchildren.

When children see that agriculture is a world of sensors, robotics, and artificial intelligence, their choice of future profession becomes more informed and motivated.

Photo: provided by the initiative for UNDP in Belarus

The Road to the Future initiative has shown that investing in early career guidance and shaping a modern, technology-driven image of the agricultural sector is one of the most effective ways to attract young people. When children see that agriculture is a world of sensors, robotics, and artificial intelligence, their choice of future profession becomes more informed and motivated. It is specialists who have grown up at the intersection of tradition and innovation who will be able to support the sustainable development of the agricultural sector. Yes, a tractor can drive itself. But agriculture still needs people can run complex systems, interpret data, and make sound decisions.

The Road to the Future initiative is implemented with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Belarus as part of the joint project “Support to the Efforts of the Republic of Belarus in Nationalization and Localization of SDGs,” funded by the Russian Federation.