The World Food Forum 2024: Good food for all, for today and tomorrow.

STI Forum 2022 Side Event: “Youth-led solutions for a better food future”

26/04/2022

At the next Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum) the World Food Forum (WFF) will host an event to highlight the essential role of young scientists in identifying and scaling up innovative solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and positive agrifood systems transformation, with a specific focus on the links between healthy diets and climate action.

The event builds on the momentum of WFF’s youth-led activities in 2021, which brought together more than 40 000 young and young-at-heart people and over 75 partners from all sectors, with the common mission to transform our agrifood systems. It will gather both young and young-at-heart scientists along with international youth leaders in a passionate discussion around the importance of youth in driving sustainable development and food security, finding out-of-the-box solutions and addressing gender/age/socio-economic divides in the fields of science, technology, and innovation.

The event will also introduce the first-ever WFF Young Scientists Group (YSG) and mark the launch of the second edition of the WFF’s Transformative Research Challenge (TRC).

Objectives

  • Promote the role of young scientists, researchers and innovators in sparking a positive transformation in our agrifood systems;
  • Highlight some of the most promising developments in science, technology and innovation (STI) for accelerating progress towards the SDGs, presenting a clear link between climate change and healthy diets;
  • Show ways to address the divide across genders as well as socio-economic groups when it comes to the fields of science, technology, and innovation;
  • Empower youth to take action within their own communities;
  • Leverage the ingenuity of youth in science to build back better after the COVID-19 pandemic and create a better food future for all.

Agenda

Moderator
 Dr Rachel V. Brown
Executive Director & Co-founder of the Every Mikkle Foundation, WFF Champion
SpeakerTopic
Opening Remarks
 Jayathma Wickramanayake
UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth
The role of youth in finding innovative solutions to achieve the SDGs
Special Address
 Dr Ismahane Elouafi
Chief Scientist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Highlighting ways to address the divide across genders, as well as age and socio-economic groups when it comes to the fields of science, technology and innovation
WFF youth-led science and innovation initiatives
 Dr Ibrahima Hathie
Member, Independent Group of Scientists
The role of the Independent Group of Scientists (IGS) as well as the upcoming 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR)
Video introducing the 2022 WFF YSG cohort
 2 YSG Members
The objectives of the YSG in 2022
 Dr Nafn Amdar
2021 TRC Winner
Overview of her research on water. TRC experience sharing and invitation to apply to the 2022 edition
Panel discussion and Q&A session with audience
Conclusion and call to action
 

Dr Máximo Torero
Chief Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Discuss the importance of youth in science and research amidst increasing global challenges
Video inviting people to join the 2022 TRC