WFF Mauritania Youth Chapter: Showcasing youth-led innovations at the Interregional Family Farming Dialogue – Cairo 2025

On 7 and 8 July, the World Food Forum (WFF) Mauritania Youth Chapter participated in the Interregional Family Farming Dialogue in Cairo, Egypt. The event, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Near East and North Africa (NENA), brought together 45 youth leaders, experts and stakeholders from the NENA and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions to explore scalable solutions for strengthening family farming. The dialogue focused on empowering smallholder farmers, especially youth and women, through innovation, inclusive policies and partnerships, while advancing the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF) Global Action Plan.

The discussions opened with a clear message: digital technologies are no longer a luxury but a necessity for family farmers. Panelists from Brazil, Egypt and Lebanon presented innovations that reflected both regional diversity and shared challenges, particularly connectivity gaps, limited digital literacy and barriers for women and youth.

Joelcio Carvalho, CEO of Live Farm (Brazil), stressed the need for contextualized solutions and digital literacy efforts. Drawing on global examples like the Kuza platform in Kenya, he advocated for accessible and relevant innovations to support farmers on the ground. Mariam Elsharkawy, Head of Agri Business, Egypt, introduced AGRIMISR, a multifunctional platform for farmer registration, advisory services and e-marketing, while noting affordability challenges due to high subscription costs. Vicky Gebrayel from the Ministry of Agriculture, Lebanon, showcased the Digital Farmer Registry, designed to optimize service delivery and highlighted obstacles such as electricity shortages and limited inclusion of youth and women.

Chapter Lead Almamy Chouaibou Diagana, moderated the thematic session on digital technologies for family farming, guiding exchanges on both challenges and opportunities in small-scale agriculture.

Key cross-cutting recommendations included:

• Strengthening rural infrastructure for reliable electricity and connectivity;
• Expanding digital literacy programmes tailored to local educational realities;
• Promoting affordable digital access through subsidies or freemium models;
• Supporting community-based digital hubs and peer learning;
• Designing inclusive platforms with offline functionality; and
• Developing national digital registries prioritizing data privacy.

The dialogue concluded with a call for integrated, farmer-centered digital strategies and highlighted the value of cross-regional learning. For the Chapter, the event provided a platform to connect global innovations with local agrifood systems challenges.

Beyond the dialogue, the event offered networking opportunities and reinforced the role of youth in driving rural development. It marked another milestone, following recent youth mobilization and entrepreneurship initiatives in Dar Naim and Rosso. With its visibility, the Chapter continues to amplify the voice of youth and promote innovative, localized solutions for sustainable agriculture.