My participation at the World Food Forum 2024

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 I attended the World Food Forum (WFF) in Rome that was held from the 14th – 18th of October at the United Nations (UN) Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, Italy. I joined over 400 young leaders, world experts, government representatives and indigenous people in deciding the future of agri-food systems and policies. The theme of this year’s forum was Good food for all, today and tomorrow.

I attended as a delegate of the World Organisation of Scouts Movement (WOSM/Scouts) & a member of the GOAL NextGen Youth Network.









The events were organised around three main pillars – Global Youth Action, Science and Innovation and the Hand in Hand Investment forum. In this format participants were able to explore different issues under the pillars through participating in panel discussions, roundtable discussions, meetings and main ceremonies. I chose to participate in the Global Youth Action and Hand In Hand investment forums. Below are some of the key engagements are I was able to participate in:

Youth Voices in Agriculture.

On the second day of the of the Forum I participated in this event that was hosted by the government of Ireland. The event brought together youth delegates and representatives of Ireland, including the permanent representative of Ireland to the UN – Ambassador Patricia O’Brien and FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. During the event I actively engaged the Irish youth participants. I also had a rare opportunity to have a conversation with Ambassador O’Brien who I discussed with about the importance of the Irish Aid funding in supporting youth programs











Picture: with the Ambassador. 


World Food Day.

On World Food Day I was engaged in helping launch the GOAL discussion paper on Food and Nutrition Security through sharing images and videos that helped launch the paper on the social handles of GOAL Global. In the sessions – and main plenary session, there was a diverse participation, with students, advocates and leaders united to urge government leaders to act on concerns of malnutrition and hunger affecting people in disaster prone regions, conflict areas etc. An issue of importance that was highlighted to be affecting the global food supply chain was identified as climate change, and there was much emphasis on governments and all players alike uniting together to tackle hunger amidst this present challenge











Picture: Preparing Food day content. 


Rome Water Dialogue.

I participated in a high level dialogue restricted to select delegates on the current water challenges around the world. In this dialogue, I helped point out how countries in the Global South were facing severe water challenges as caused by droughts. It was acknowledged how persistent droughts have been affecting people and livestock, health and wellbeing of people as well as challenges of forced mobility of people from farming regions into cities and other foreign countries. Governments were urged to get in partnership with NGOs and private players and seek investment in solving the water challenges.











Youth Leadership in Food Systems.


I was part of a roundtable discussion led by Dr Hawke of FAO to discuss with other young people the importance of young people in positively influencing food systems. Key emerging issues were that there is a gap between NGOs and funders and food systems need financial support to be effective. Another takeaway was that the components of food systems, which should be working hand in hand are operating in isolation creating challenges with food systems that do not adequately address local challenges. There is also a great need to support local farmers with ease of access to critical up to date information that will help them avoid loses and failures to meet the market needs






Summing Up.

The event is a great platform bringing together national leaders, young people and experts in having constructive discussions around food, nutrition and agri-food systems. 

 United with all present, we were able to come up with the following outcome documents:


Global Youth Action Plan.


Rome Declaration on Water Scarcity 

https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/world-food-forum-2024-closes-after-a-week-of-collaboration-and-commitment-to--good-food-for-all--today-and-tomorrow/en



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