Innovations That Last: The Story of Green Revolutions and Youth Changing Villages

Somewhere between Dalj and Novi Sad, on a border you can cross in an hour, a quiet revolution is growing today. There are no banners, no big announcements, but there is a lot of courage and new ideas coming precisely from those we least expect to stay – young women and men who choose the village instead of leaving.

When the world went through the first Green Revolution, somewhere in the mid-20th century, it was a moment when new varieties of wheat and corn, artificial fertilizers, and mechanization saved the hungry across the globe. The revolution brought hope but also new questions: how to produce more food without destroying the land we cultivate?

The second Green Revolution, known as agroecological, began more quietly. It started when farmers realized that nature is a partner, not an enemy. Smart land use, water conservation, and returning organic matter to the soil were not just phrases but part of the daily routine of those who wanted to stay on their farms but operate more wisely and sustainably.

Today, before our eyes, the third Green Revolution is happening – digital and sustainable. It is led by young people from villages who do not shy away from technology but use it to improve production, directly connect their products with customers, and find solutions to climate change challenges. They use drones to monitor crops, sensors to measure soil moisture, and apps to track costs and learn new farming methods.

According to Eurostat data, young people make up only about 10% of all farm owners in Europe, while women constitute just over 30% of all farmers. However, in Serbia and Croatia, these percentages are even lower, with even fewer young women. Still, despite the numbers, the number of examples where young women remain in villages and start businesses is growing – producing natural cosmetics, cultivating medicinal herbs, opening educational farms, and nature-based tourism. They take over tradition and turn it into a modern, sustainable business that stays within their communities.

This is not just a struggle for personal livelihood. It is a quiet fight against depopulation, a fight for the local community, for preserving language and customs, for a village that breathes and has a future. In Dalj and Novi Sad, through projects like YES DO IT, young people have the opportunity to bring ideas out of their kitchens, barns, and greenhouses, turn them into sustainable business plans, and stay where they want to be.

Because every Green Revolution has had heroes we didn’t always notice. Today, these are young women from villages who are not afraid to try something new and young men who, instead of moving to the city, choose to bring new energy and technologies to their villages.

Innovations that last are not just innovations – they are a sign that villages are not the past but a place where the future takes root.

The Youth Entrepreneurs Power project – YES DO IT is co-financed through the Interreg IPA CBC Croatia-Serbia program. The project holder is the European Youth Center of Vojvodina, while the partners are the Ecological Association “Zeleni Sad” and the Youth Center Dalj.
The project duration is 15 months, with a total value of 258,866.00 euros, of which the European Union provided co-financing of 220,036.00 euros.