Bayer (a Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Noteworthy Company), together with partners Groene Kring and Fdration des Jeunes Agriculteurs, is pleased to announce that 100 bright young minds have been selected to participate in the third Youth Ag-Summit, which will take place in Brussels, Belgium from October 9-13 2017. This year’s Summit is themed “Feeding a Hungry Planet”, and aims to address the UN Sustainability Goals of ending hunger, achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture.
Hailing from 49 countries and aged between 18 and 25, the chosen delegates share a passion for agriculture and a vision of a world without hunger. During the summit, they will share their diverse experiences and work together to generate innovative, sustainable and actionable solutions to global food security challenges. Across five days, delegates will undertake group projects and participate in industry tours, as well as learn from expert guest speakers. Their mission is to come up with concrete new ideas which can drive agricultural progress across the globe and be put into practice back home.
“The agricultural industry can contribute strongly to achieving some of the key UN Sustainable Development Goals, but this also requires the active involvement of the next generation. The Youth Ag-Summit aims to give young leaders the opportunity to foster their ideas, share best practices and explore the role of modern agriculture in feeding a hungry planet”, said Liam Condon, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and head of the Crop Science Division.
Participants selected through an essay contest
To be considered for participation, prospective delegates were required to submit an essay of 1,500 words on the topic of food insecurity. A total of 1,187 essays from 95 different countries were submitted; all of which were reviewed by a panel of industry experts.
“The applicants put a lot of effort into their essays. We reviewed them based on their views on sustainable food security and agriculture. Reading them was a valuable experience. Their contributions will form the basis for discussion at the Youth Ag-Summit in October”, said Giel Boey, national chairman of Groene Kring.
Young people can help tackle global food security challenges
This year’s winning applicants focused their essay submissions on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and the role of youth in helping to feed a growing world population. Ideas put forward related to improving education and awareness of best practices, increasing gender equality within the sector, changing consumption patterns, and mitigating the impact of climate change on crop yield, to name a few.
“As a Belgian youth agricultural organization, we look forward to welcoming and introducing young leaders to local farming challenges and hearing their global and local perspectives. It will be a true pleasure to share ideas and thoughts with so many passionate minds”, said Guillaume Van Binst, secretary general of the Fdration des Jeunes Agriculteurs.
The delegates hail from the following 49 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.
Visit www.youthagsummit.com to meet the delegates and to learn more about the Summit. Follow the latest news on @YouthAgSummit or https://www.facebook.com/YouthAgSummit/.
