Two high school students will, in the next two days, be selected to represent Kenya in the Iowa State Global Youth Institute Conference in October this year.
The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) Director General (DG), Eliud Kireger, said the two students will present research papers in the Conference on solutions that need to be fast-tracked to boost agriculture in the region.
Dr. Kireger, during a two-day Food Security Youth Conference organized by KALRO and the World Food Prize Foundation-Kenya Youth Institute (WFPF-KYI), said youth are at the heart of future food systems.
In a speech read on his behalf by Dr. Samson Kamunya, Director of the Biotechnology Research Centre of KALRO, the DG said, “We have to empower the youth with knowledge, platforms, and mentorship to drive climate-smart, technology-driven, and sustainable agriculture.
This year’s Conference brings together high school student innovators and teachers from across Kenya, to explore and present youth-led innovations on food security.
The initiative empowers young minds to be part of the global solution to hunger, malnutrition, and climate change, and during the Conference, students share project presentations that will go through judging and selection of the team that will represent Kenya.
The Conference attracted sponsored high school students and teachers from across Kenya presenting innovative, youth-led solutions to food security, climate change, and nutrition challenges.
Further, the Conference celebrates the culmination of school-based global food security projects, developed after teacher capacity workshops, held earlier in the year.
“We have seen this program’s growth engaging over 95 schools this year, training over 120 teachers, and receiving over 129 student projects, of which 69 were selected for this conference.”, Dr. Kireger said
Sixty-nine selected projects will be evaluated and will be recognized for their originality, scientific rigor, and potential for impact. The event also fosters mentorship and builds research and communication skills in students.
John Wogman, a Senior Program Manager-In-Charge of Global Youth Programs and Partnerships with the World Food Prize Foundation, said young people are critical in the food system and thus, if well trained, will actively participate in food production globally.
He explained that every year through the youth institute model, the World Food Prize Foundation engages over 1,800 students who write research papers and present in forums.
“We are engaged in 21 US states and then in Honduras, Kenya, Uganda, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Sierra Leone. The World Food Prize Foundation, has been working with young people for over 30 years, and the engagement of the youth centered emanates from Dr. Norman Borlaug Laurette, who believed that food is the moral right for all who are born into this world. He believed that if you’re going to solve some of the larger challenges and issues related to food security and agriculture, you need to train the next generation of farmers and educators and scientists and researchers,” said Wogman.
Just by writing this paper, Wogman noted that the students are developing writing, research, public speaking skills, and real analysis skills around some of the drivers of global food insecurity.
“When you look at the succession in the agriculture sector, there seems to be no succession between the old and the young. There is a huge need to make sure that knowledge transfer occurs between the scientists and researchers, and the opportunities for young people to make a meaningful difference in the world, Wogman added.
Jan Lowe, the 2016 World Food Prize co-laureate, said there is a need to provoke the minds of young people to participate fully in food production.
“We are committed to seeing youth become more engaged in agriculture and all aspects of tackling the food system, especially now that the world is facing unprecedented crises across the food system with 295 million people acutely food insecure and 500 million people facing food insecurity”, she added.
Lowe said that they are trying to promote getting youth involved in working across the food system to improve the food system, and this they can do by becoming scientists, policy makers and even advocates.
“There are many ways that youth can become engaged as what we call hunger fighters”, Lowe added
Verenardo Meeme, Programme Officer for the AATF’s Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), said there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation about biotechnology that must be countered.
“We want to get the young ones informed early so as to enhance awareness of biotechnology and other emerging technologies in agriculture,” he added, saying science is evolving and new technologies are emerging that can help Africa enhance its agricultural productivity.
For Africa to make use of modern agricultural technologies such as biotechnology, he said that it is vital to have a critical mass of researchers to help make evidence-based decisions, and thus the importance of preparing young scholars, the next generation of scientists and researchers, from early on, so that they can make the right career decisions as they transition to university.
“They need to know the options that exist in science and technology for them to pursue in higher education,” Meeme said.
The OFAB is extending its awareness of agricultural biotechnology, to include school science clubs that will bring scientists, students, and farmers to the same table to discuss agritech trends, communication, new innovations, biosafety, emerging issues, agricultural biotechnology, and agricultural production challenges in Africa.
By Wangari Ndirangu
