The Youth Café Statement On International Youth Day 2021: Creating Spaces And Opportunities For Global Food Systems Through Youth-led Innovation

Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021

Youth living in today’s modern society have a plethora of opportunities to live, learn, work and impact the world around them. For years, people in positions of leadership have stated that the youth are the future of the world, that youth hold the key to taking up the batons of leadership, innovation, education and knowledge, and therefore continuing to run towards achieving the desired goal for economic inclusion, equality, the eradication of poverty and building a society that always strives towards improvement and development. 

International Youth Day takes place annually on the 12th of August. This year’s theme is focused on “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”. Though, the success of this effort on a global scale can only be achieved through the participation of youth. There are always discussions about the need for inclusive support mechanisms that will help ensure that youth will keep amplifying the need to collectively protect life on earth.

Since the world’s population is estimated to reach 2 billion by the year 2051, researchers are beginning to realize that stakeholders may not be able to keep up with the high demands of sustainable, and healthy food for humanity. Other important factors that have to be taken into consideration is the 2030 goal for the reduction of poverty, social inclusion, health care, the conservation of biodiversity as well as reversing the effects of climate change. 

In the spirit of the theme for this year's International Youth Day, The Youth Café recognizes valuable contributions from youth in Africa towards achieving sustainable food systems. One such initiative is the Byte by Byte Policy Innovation that has worked to transform food systems in Africa with digital technologies. Under the policy, seven African nations including Morocco, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal are at the frontline of progress on digitalizing the agriculture sector.

Byte by Byte examines the role of policy and institutional innovations, including private sector actions that enhance farmer’s access to markets, information and services utilizing digital tools. Various examples illuminate on which strategies work and which do not. The case study analysis encompassing the seven countries provides recommendations for both private and public sector innovations to stimulate digitalization for competitiveness and development in the continent’s agricultural value chain. Nonetheless, youth have not been left behind as they have been on the forefront in transforming food systems.

Food systems do not only involve the fundamental elements of getting food from the farm to the table, but also the important processes of infrastructure in feeding the population, as well as studying and addressing the negative external factors that can occur during the process. This is therefore something that youth need to get involved in, as the need for more sustainable forms of preservations are needed to be developed for future generations to come. 

Recently, the effects of severe climate change and environmental damage have been put into the spotlight again. With a record-setting number of wildfires, historic floods, droughts and heat waves, these have been at the forefront of news headlines over the last few months. This, therefore gives the idea that more needs to be done to tackle this unequivocal crisis to sustain our food systems.

According to a report released by the World Bank in 2016, there are several reasons as to why the youth should be involved in the fight for the preservation of global food systems. Some of the reasons include; the fact that youth is an important demographic, this generation of youth is the largest in history, as well as the fact that the global population of youth is densely concentrated in South and East Asia and Africa.

The need for youth to be involved in this movement is also so that they too may have the opportunity to live decent livelihoods in the near future. Any type of transformation in the food system will assist in improving social, economic and environmental transformation. 

We at The Youth Café strive to put youth at the forefront of our Theory of Change. In which we strive to enrich the lives of young people by modelling and advocating for innovative solutions to challenges. We recognize that one of the main challenges faced by youth in the continent of Africa today is the need for adequate water supply, education, healthcare as well as decent work.

Involving youth in the decision-making processes that have the potential to positively influence their lives is done through the partnership with young leaders and experts, creating platforms that address the negative perceptions of youth that prevent in opportunities to engage constructively in tackling challenges, as well as partnering with youth to carry out interventions, by investing in youth led initiatives that respond to community challenges, and providing assistance to those in the most marginalized communities. 

Through initiatives like this, The Youth Café is at the forefront of guiding youth to become more involved with creating a society that advocates for food sustainability, and human as well as planetary health. 

About The Youth Café

The Youth Café works with young men and women around Africa as a trailblazer in advancing youth-led approaches toward achieving sustainable development, social equity, innovative solutions, community resilience, and transformative change.

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