E-Paper
Youth summit organised to find solutions to agricultural challenges
Every day the world’s population increases by 2,33,000 people, growing from 7.2 billion people today to more than 9 billion by 2050, according to estimates by the United Nations.
Every day the world’s population increases by 2,33,000 people, growing from 7.2 billion people today to more than 9 billion by 2050, according to estimates by the United Nations. The crucial question is: How can we feed these people? To develop ideas and support global action needed to solve this challenge, Bayer CropScience (a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials) in collaboration with the agricultural youth organisation Future Farmers Network is organising a Youth Ag-Summit in Canberra, Australia.
A week-long event, starting from August 24 to August 28, 2015, will witness around 100 young people, aged between 18-25, from 33 countries to discuss opportunities, collaborate and act on solutions for a sustainable agriculture that will help feed a growing world population.
Aatika Singh from New Delhi, Raghav Raghunathan from Dewad, MP and Rohit Fenn from Kottayam, Kerala will represent India at the summit.
“Agriculture in India is facing threats from all the sides. Firstly, the richer segment of farmers have embraced methods which are unsustainable, while the subsistence based poorer farmers (which is 80% of India’s farmers) have been experiencing climatic shifts, declining productivity and lack of access to good quality seeds,” said Raghunathan.
According to Fenn, such summits are the need of the hour. “My steady interest as an environmental science student has been in sustainability at large — from energy production and transportation to our food systems. From my understanding, one of the problems with agriculture in India is small farms. This not only lowers the income but makes it difficult to mechanise some farming practices. Ours is still a labour intensive industry, unlike some European countries which have less than 2% of their population working in agriculture whereas we are over 30%,” he says.
Under the theme ‘Feeding a Hungry Planet, candidates were invited to submit a 1,500 word essay outlining their position and ideas on the underlying causes of food security and the effect it can have on a growing population. The ability to demonstrate original ideas and passion to help shape the future was the key selection criteria for the summit. Essays were evaluated by a diverse range of qualified and experienced industry professionals. Showcasing a range of insightful perspectives on food insecurity around the world, candidates discussed topics including food wastage, local produce, education and awareness of agricultural practices – all of which will contribute to the conference agenda.
“We nearly received 2,000 essays from 87 countries which signals a strong interest in the issue of feeding a hungry planet. The quality of the essays was outstanding and the challenges and solutions identified highlight that opportunities like the Youth Ag-Summit provide a great platform to continue the discussions,” said Georgie Aley, chair of Future Farmers Network, Australia.
