The WFF Youth Food Lab has officially launched in Peru

On 17 February, the World Food Forum (WFF) Peru Youth Chapter and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Country Office in Peru launched the local Youth Food Lab (YFL), marking its first national implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative contributes to FAO's regional efforts to strengthen youth capacities, bringing together the Universidad Mayor D-School team, the WFF Youth Initiative, FAO Campus and FAO technical teams working on rural youth, Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants, under FAO’s better life priority area.

The YFL is a platform that helps young innovators to turn their disruptive innovations into resilient, inclusive and future-ready solutions that can transform agrifood systems by promoting collaboration between youth, institutions, academia and the private sector.

The launch event brought together over 300 young people, representatives of public institutions, academia and partner organizations, as well as nearly 250 virtual participants who connected from across the country. The event featured a panel discussion that brought together inspiring young leaders from across Peru. The discussion featured Cristian Chumpi Esquivel, an Indigenous youth leader from the Awajún community of San Lorenzo in the Amazon region; Maylen Izquierdo, a young innovator from the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina; Karina Villalobos, a rural entrepreneur from Cajamarca leading a women-led honey initiative; and Guido Gerónimo Maldonado, an entrepreneur developing sustainable food innovations. Their experiences underscored the vital role young people play in transforming agrifood systems within their communities.

The event also marked the launch of Jóvenes Raíz, the first challenge of the YFL Peru, aimed at strengthening the capacities of young people across the country, with a focus on rural and Amazonian territories, to design sustainable solutions and develop innovative agrifood initiatives.

If you are a young person from Peru, apply for the challenge here: Curso: Jóvenes Raíz- Diseño de nuevas soluciones para desafíos agroalimentarios (capítulo Perú).

Applications are open until 15 March 2026.

This initiative is developed jointly by the FAO Country Office in Perú and the National Youth Secretariat of Peru (SENAJU), with technical and methodological support from Universidad Mayor (Chile) and the FAO Campus. The YFL Peru adds to the efforts of the country in promoting youth-led innovation for more inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.