Led by Global Youth, World Food Forum plans several events to create a better food future

Launched in March 2021, the World Food Forum (WFF), an innovative youth-led platform to help fight hunger and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is gaining global momentum with over 2 500 subscribers as of 1 June, as well as several activities planned over the next months until the main event in October.

The WFF, which was conceived by the Youth Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is an independent global network of partners created by and for youth, and consisting of major youth groups, influencers, international organizations, companies, academic institutions, non-profits, governments, media and the public. Aligning with the core principles of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), the WFF aims to serve as an ongoing platform to engage youth, galvanize action and identify solutions to the growing challenges facing local, regional and global agri-food systems.

The WFF will host every year a wide range of digital and in-person events celebrating youth empowerment and leadership, and engaging young agri-food systems stakeholders and a youthful public. The WFF focuses on six thematic tracks that include cooking, education, film, innovation, music and policy.

How can youth get involved?

Among the anticipated WFF events in 2021 are:

• the WFF International Film Competition and Festival, which is currently accepting submissions from both amateur and professional filmmakers;
• the Actors4Change social media challenge, which is currently open to all youthful thinkers;
• the Transformative Research Challenge, which has an international open call for young researchers to submit and develop research proposals;
• and the WFF Youth Action Assembly, which will host several global WFF events and dialogues over the coming months, including a week-long series of online youth consultations and Global Youth Action event in close cordination with the UNFSS youth stream with aims to feed into the events related to the Pre-Summit (26 – 28 July) of the UN Food Systems Summit.

Other WFF events lined up for 2021 include innovation labs, agri-food system education initiatives, culinary events and music concerts. This year’s WFF will culminate in a flagship event, from 1-6 October 2021, and will continue as an ongoing global food movement to engage youth and amplify the key messages around the urgency for food systems transformation.

About FAO’s Youth Committee

The Youth Committee was established by FAO’s Director-General, QU Dongyu, in 2019 to tap into the potential of young employees as catalysts for change and to spark a global youth movement for a better food future for all.