Applications are now open for the 2021 Youth Ag Summit (YAS), a global forum and biennially organized conference where young leaders collaborate to develop sustainable solutions for food security and global agriculture as they work toward becoming global instruments of change.
While this is the 5th biennial Youth Ag Summit, it will be the first virtual YAS event. The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and technology company Babele will provide a virtual idea incubator, YAS University.
Delegates will continue to learn entrepreneurship and leadership skills, receive coaching from mentors, and improve their own “Thrive for Change” project concepts in a 10-week period following the November summit.
The summit’s overall theme, “Feeding a Hungry Planet,” is based on the United Nations’ prediction that the planet’s population will reach 9.7 billion people by 2050, which will present food security challenges. The 100 delegates selected to participate in this year’s YAS will develop to challenges on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Christine Jodloman, Filipino delegate in the 2019 YAS held in Brazil, shares: “My YAS experience has been amazing and humbling, as I was able to meet, connect, and get inspired by my fellow youth agriculture changemakers around the world.”
Her work is on grassroots agripreneurship for rural farming communities. Delegates from around the world were able to provide suggestions on her projects which she has integrated in her youth and women programs at AGREA Foundation.
Jodloman also helps in the Move Food Initiative as a facilitator to farmer groups, wherein they were able to provide 190,000 kilos of agriculture produce and helped 30,000 farmers in 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.
“Agriculture is not just about growing food, but it also means growing the future,” she said. “We need a future with a thriving agricultural sector, where people and the planet are prioritized.”
“This is a great opportunity for the youth to be empowered and take the lead in sustaining Philippine agriculture,” said Iiinas Ivan Lao, Country Commercial Lead of Bayer Crop Science.
Application for the 2021 Youth Ag Summit is open to young people of any background aged 18-25. Potential delegates will be asked to share their motivation to join the summit, their previous advocacy experience and a 3-minute video pitch explaining their project idea on “how to feed a hungry planet.”
Examples of projects pitched and developed from earlier summits include the opening of Sri Lanka’s Kadamandiya Food Bank and the establishment of a Madagascar health clinic where workers harvest essential grains in fields nearby to supplement their patient’s nutritional needs.
Applicants should be personally, professionally, and academically interested in agriculture, international development, environmental stewardship, food security, biotechnology, and/or farming.
Application closes on June 30. The Youth Ag Summit will be held on November 16-17.