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YK Poddle
The World Food Forum (WFF), hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Bhutan Office, will launch a national chapter in June with the aim of increasing youth involvement in policy making, food education, and encouraging entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector.
A total of 20 young people signed up to participate in the national chapter of the Bhutan Agricultural Trade and Investment Forum held from May 15 to 19. The national chapter will be led by four national coordinators and will gradually be rolled out across the country.
Established in 2021, the World Future Foundation is an independent, youth-led global network of partners under FAO.
Chapter leader Tenzin said the World Forest Forum national chapters will engage youth at the local level and will also contribute to building a larger collective network to promote partnerships in agri-food systems.
“For climate-friendly agricultural ecosystems, there needs to be a shift towards circularity, smart technologies and efficient resource use,” she said.
She said that in order to achieve the goals of the National Youth Chapter, novel approaches must be taken to make the platform an open source knowledge hub for everyone.
Sonam Lhamo, another chapter leader, said she participates and contributes to the World Food Forum Asia-Pacific meetings, sharing and supporting projects aimed at raising awareness and driving positive change in food systems.
“As the youth representatives of Bhutan at WFF 2023, we have the opportunity to communicate with and learn from different experts. Hosting a youth forum will allow everyone to learn and improve national policies.” Sonam Ram said.
Nawang Gyeltshen, head of the Bhutan chapter, said young people have the ability to make changes. “I want to promote sustainable agricultural practices and strengthen collaborative and innovative youth communities.”
“The team needs to raise awareness of the global agri-food system discussion and integrate Bhutan’s practices with the global discourse,” said Nawang Gyeltshen.
Ken Shimizu, FAO Representative in Bhutan and Nepal, said that water shortages, agricultural labor shortages, wild animal predation, and pest and disease outbreaks caused by climate change have brought challenges to the agricultural sector in Bhutan.
“Bhutan’s poverty rate fell from 23% in 2007 to 8.2% in 2017, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, this number increased to 12.4% in 2022. The overall nutritional status of the population has improved. However, there are’ The triple burden of malnutrition’, namely undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.” Shimizu Ken said. “These are related to a lack of knowledge and a lack of nutritious and diverse foods.”
He said the World Youth Forum Bhutan chapter will enable youth to actively participate in national discussions, strengthen the role of youth in decision-making and provide innovative solutions to achieve national goals.
Ken Shimizu said that FAO will guide and encourage WFP national branches to establish start-ups in the agri-food field, participate in policy formulation and food promotion, etc.
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The platform acts as a global think tank for youth-led innovation, science and technology solutions. It organizes a series of interactive events, networks and content platforms around four thematic projects: Youth Action, Innovation, Education and Culture.
The Ministry of Agriculture, FAO Bhutan, World Food Programme, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health are key agencies driving this process. Through collaboration, production, nutrition, environment and good life can be achieved.
The agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry sector will register a negative growth of 1.5% in 2022, compared with 4% in 2020 and 1.42% in 2021, mainly due to a decrease in crop production. The contribution to GDP has also dropped from 15.79% in 2021 to 14.67% in 2022.
WFF works with governments and relevant institutions to bring about deep, systemic changes in agri-food systems, including improvements in food supply, consumer behavior, and the environment.
The theme of this year’s World Food Forum is “Good Food for All, Today and Tomorrow”, which aims to meet the pressure of population growth and the requirements of food sufficiency.
In 2022, 738.9 million people worldwide will face hunger. Currently, the world has not yet achieved Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger, which is expected to be achieved by 2030, but more than 590 million people will suffer from hunger in the next six years.
The initiative is guided by the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda and the FAO Strategic Framework.
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