Youth in Action: Global Youth Action Plan – Part II

In this episode we speak with Youth Policy Board member Gabriel Adami, Maria Jose Cervantes Calderon, Sara Kate Smith and Jieru Shi, about their journey, key achievements on the Global Youth Action Plan and how young people can get involved in shaping a more sustainable food future.   

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:02

Hello and welcome to the World Food Forum podcast and our Youth in Action series, where we bring you stories and insights from young leaders who are driving change in global agri-food systems. My name is Alexandra. I will be your host, and today we are continuing with episode two of our three-part series on Global Youth Action Plan. In this episode, we will be talking with four members of the Youth Policy Board J. Smith, Maria José Cervantes, and Gabriela Damy. They will share what inspired them to join the Youth Policy Board, their experiences representing their regions, key achievements they've made so far, and their vision for the Youth Assembly in 2026. We will also hear how young people and organizations can get involved and support these initiatives. So stay tuned as we explore the incredible work of Youth Leading the Way for a Sustainable and Equitable Food Future.

SPEAKER_05 1:03

Hello everyone, thank you for being here with us. I'm more than happy to have you all here. And before we start with our question, I would like to ask you if you can shortly introduce yourself, tell us a bit more about you and why actually you joined Youth Policy Board. What was something that sparked your interest?

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Amazing. Thank you so much. So my name is Sarah Kate Smith. I'm from Canada, representing the Youth Policy Board North American region and supporting on the forestry thematic. I grew up on a farm and in a family forced products operation. And so was always very involved in kind of food and fiber systems. And just kind of growing up and engaging from a policy perspective, I had the opportunity to come to the Committee on World Food Security in 2018 and participate as a youth delegate. And that was my first experience engaging directly with PAO and being able to kind of participate as a youth representative at the table in global discussions. And so engaging, you know, much uh more frequently at the Canadian level and with the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council, it kind of led me two years ago to look at how I can revisit some of that global engagement and have the opportunity to participate in the youth policy board. So very excited to always kind of bring our regional perspective, but also to hear and learn from the other regions.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Hi, my name is Jay Rue. I'm from the US and currently part of the North America region team. I'm currently a Master's of Business Administration student at the Warren School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Master's of Public Administration joint degree student at Harvard University. Prior to grad school, I worked in public sector consulting for a few years and last year had the chance to represent the US at the G20 Youth Summit on the topic of fighting hunger, poverty, and inequality. And then from that experience, I saw how crucial it was to have youth voices in the discussion around agri-food systems. So when I saw the chance to join the youth policy board of the World Food Forum, I thought it was an incredible opportunity. I've always believed that young people should really be part of not only the conversation, but helping shape the direction of policy. And so I've been really inspired to be part of this group where we've talked about issues from food security to sustainability to equity and think about how it plays out not only in our local regions, but in the global space.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Amazing. Thank you. I'm Gabriel. I'm 20 years old from Brazil. And growing up in a state where the economy is like mostly concentrated in agri-food systems, the Middle West from Brazil, where we cultivate soil, corn, and all the other traditional cultures that we have there. I always thought that it was good to have youth involved in transformation because we are a little bit conservative and like driven this kind of solutions to fight to promote some kind of awareness in indigenous land, rights, protection, also traditional communities, riversine communities, and also Kilombola communities, and also with my biome, the largest wetland in the world. It was a will of me to enter in this kind of multilateral space to like scale up this kind of thing. So that is why I enter in the youth policy board.

SPEAKER_03 4:28

Thank you so much. My name is María José Cervantes, and I'm from Costa Rica. And I work as a specialist on agriculture and climate change. Basically, my work is based in helping the producers to implement adaptation and mitigation actions. So I work in far uh in the farm like every day, but also I work as climate activist. And there is when I found myself as a bridge between the agricultural sector and also with a political environment, with a policy arena. That's why I want to be like act as a bridge between the policies and also be more oriented about the necessities and all the to bridge the gaps that producers are facing in in our country, so in our in my region in Central America.

SPEAKER_05 5:16

So thank you so much for your answer. And uh this year, as we know, uh Maria and you all been right playing a key role here at the Global Youth Action Plan. So, what are some of the achievements that you are most proud of so far and uh some of the let's say highlights, and but also what are you hoping to reach by the end of 2026?

SPEAKER_03 5:36

Yeah, thank you for the question because I I'm very happy to show everybody all the achievements that we have been doing as Latin America and the Caribbean team for our policy priority. Uh we are trying to promote the access of funding and finance and promote the indigenous knowledge and also uh the local-based solutions that we are doing in the region. So, for that we have four main actions. The first one is the Avanza Program, that is a financial literacy initiative. So, so far we have made uh more than five partnerships with very important organizations in the region. We have CATIE, that is an university, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation Agriculture, the integration system from Central America, WIPART, and UNESCO as well, and they are helping us to create a material series composed by 10 chapters in basic concepts about financial literacy. And we are doing that in three languages: Portuguese, Spanish, and English. We are hoping to also get a version in one indigenous uh languages as well. We are very diverse in Latin America, so we want to show that that diversity can be embraced in our actions. And I think that the partnerships that we are we are going to create, or we are all already doing, that is going to help us to create that action. So I think that we cannot do that alone. To implement that, we have to work together, and that's why we are uh looking for more partnerships to uh to connect with more uh other organizations that are working on the same topics as us, and also working together with youth organizations that are hoping to create this kind of well, partnerships and and make um not duplicate actions but uh gathering efforts. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 7:29

But is it hard? For example, as you are having um projects where you want to work with other partners, is it hard finding partners and young people who are willing to collaborate and work together?

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Yeah, it's it's kind of hard sometimes, also, because uh each organization organization has like their own vision and their own priorities. But education on finance, I think that is the main topic that we have in common. So we are aware that in our region there is a lot a very big need and to address in in financial literacy, how we can um uh help people to to manage their money, to get funding, how to scale the solutions that they are doing. So we are in the first step of this uh education program, and we found in the organization that we are working on that they have the same necessity and the same priority. So that is uh this that is an advantage at the end because we are connecting by that.

SPEAKER_05 8:32

And let's say by by the end of 2026, what are you hoping to reach to conclude, let's say, to end the year successfully?

SPEAKER_03 8:42

Well, uh with this specific uh action, um, we are going to train agri-feat champions. That's uh how we are going to call it. And we want to create an um a group of young people, empower uh young people to spread that education. So we're hoping to reach at least 800 um youth in within the communities by empowerment.

SPEAKER_05 9:08

How are we gonna do that? What's the plan? How are you gonna organize it?

SPEAKER_03 9:12

Yeah, we already starting. Uh so this uh organization that I mentioned before, they are doing the technical uh part, they are creating the handbook or the material series at 10 chapters, and then we're going to start the training of trainers. So the training of trainers will help the agri-foot champions to know how to facilitate these spaces, how to create an educational program. And with the materials that we are doing, they are going to have access to those materials. And right now we are um very close to get the funding to give to the agrifish champions to create this uh educational program in their community, in their communities. And with that money, they are going uh they will be allowed to print the materials, for example, to gather the community together and and start the facilitation of financial literacy. And that's how we are going to that that that is our vision for that.

SPEAKER_05 10:07

Great, and we are really excited to see it all coming together.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Sara, what about you? So this year in our region, we really focused on you know implementing the two key priorities that we identified. And so one being food waste resources, and one being how can we form a better partnership with the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and create a framework to really engage with them on the work that we're doing in a long-term kind of partnership format to make sure that Indigenous voices are heard and at the table. And so when it came to food waste, you know, we heard through our consultations as we started the Global Youth Action Plan that youth in our region really only knew about food redistribution as a means to reduce and help mitigate food waste. And there wasn't a lot of understanding of what the rest of the food waste hierarchy looked like or what the opportunities for mitigation were. And so, based on that, we hosted a series of webinars and intergenerational dialogues and brought in experts from across the food waste hierarchy in North America to really speak to the pilots and the examples and the resources that exist, you know, beyond just food redistribution, which is an essential part of that hierarchy, but it's not the only part. And so if we're looking at how we can repurpose food or recycle food to maintain some value, even if it's after even after it's no longer consumable for humans, you know, we're able to repurpose it into animal feed. We're able to use it as part of anaerobic biodigestion and get soil amendment and energy produced from that process and maintain this value and resource of the food that you know producers have worked so hard to create. And so we really explored that and you know, hosted a series of these webinars. We engaged with over 160 youth from our region, and we also use that as the foundation to develop a resource guide that kind of brings together this information all in one space so that beyond those 160 youth who are available to participate in the series, that resource would be available more broadly to youth in our region and beyond to kind of showcase the examples and the opportunities for food waste mitigation techniques that they can implement themselves. And now we need to ask.

SPEAKER_05 12:35

We want to ask for one example. How can we actually reduce the food waste, let's say, in our households? Is there any example, maybe, Sarah, that you can give us now? Just one thing is the best way?

SPEAKER_02 12:49

I think the best way is if you're looking at it from a consumer household level, is to really assess, you know, what your grocery shop is every week and how much food you actually need. I think it's starting from the beginning and looking at, you know, how can I maybe reduce or be more strategic in the produce that I'm buying. I mean, I personally freeze a lot of things. And so that's like the way that anything I make where it's, you know, I'm not going to be able to finish it all, or you know, in our in our family where make too much food over the holidays or something, we always freeze it or, you know, turn it into a soup or something. And so I think there's ways at a household level where we can, you know, preserve and maintain our food. We can reduce from a source reduction perspective how much we're purchasing. We can look for ways to save, you know, bones and scraps from the food we're producing and turn it into stock, that sort of thing. But I think when we're looking at at real food waste mitigation, we need to, you know, find those examples beyond just what you know a consumer level can address and start to look at those broader, you know, institutional solutions. And so that's what we hoped to do with the resource guide. So our our big focus now is on the resource guide and how can we you know finalize that process. We had our last session here at the flagship event in Rome, where we were able to finalize, you know, even more consultation with youth delegates from North America and beyond. And so taking that input and that feedback, taking the experts that we were able to bring together throughout the past year, you know, we're we're working to really put together and build that resource guide as our final goal for the year and and then distribute that where it's needed most. And then on our other key point of our action plan, the Global Youth Indigenous Caucus Partnership, you know, we're working very closely with the focal points from that organization to really establish, you know, what this framework looks like. And it's been an extremely collaborative process. And so I think, you know, we're not putting really strict metrics or pressure or anything like that on the process because we really want to work together and design it together and co-create. And so we're we're really, you know, in a partnership model following the the lead of our partners at GIYC and hoping to you know continue the conversation for the rest of the year and build towards what that framework looks like for the new cohort coming in.

SPEAKER_05 15:18

And Cabriel, for those who are listening and who want to get involved, so how can actually young people or organizations can connect and support the initiatives uh led by youth policy board? What's the best way?

SPEAKER_00 15:32

When we talk about the Global Youth Action Plan implementation and engagement of youth uh in the youth assembly, we we just we don't need properly to consider only the official roles like the YSG, the YPB, the national chapters, but as well the collaboration between them and the intersectorial approaches between those kinds of organizations, organisms between and inside the youth assembly framework. I think it would be great for us to have these youth-led organizations, movements, young leaders and activists conducting this kind of process within the implementation of GYP.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

I mean, I think the starting point is to take a look at the GYAP. I think you know, no matter what region you're in, there's really excellent kind of policy thought that's gone into it and work streams and opportunities for young people to participate on topics, kind of wherever their passion is. There's something in there, and wherever region they're in, there's an opportunity to engage, you know, direct with YPB, participating in the webinars and the consultations and the work that we do, you know, together with youth in our region. Um, you know, there's opportunities to engage, even coming to these types of events or you know, taking the resources being developed, like you know, the food waste resource guide that we're working to launch and and leveraging that at their own, you know, institutions or organizations or or communities at home. And I think that that's really the goal of the work we're doing is it's it's focused on this like higher level policy. We're consulting across our region, we're looking at, you know, directionally where do young people want to go and focus and do the work. And we're trying, and the the whole youth assembly tries to then develop those resources and the tools and the type of support that allows, you know, youth on the ground to put it into action and and participate how they want and drive forward the change that they're looking for in their communities, you know, with the support of the work we're doing here.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

I really envision the youth assembly to be a go-to global platform where young people are not only actively participating, but actively leading conversations on agri-food policy and implementation. Um, I'd love to see our global youth action plan continue to evolve and influence how youth all over the world encourage each other and are really motivated to improve agri-food systems at both the global, regional, and local level. When I reflect back on my experience so far with the YPB, I think it's incredibly impactful to not only be part of a diverse group of young change makers, uh, but also to be able to learn from each other's regional experiences. I think it's important to reflect on the fact that despite our different contexts, where we all have the same drive and passion to make food systems more fair, more resilient, and more youth inclusive. And I think that's what makes the youth assembly really special. It's not just about uh thinking about policy and implementation, but it's about connecting with each other, collaborating with each other, and making sure that youth voices are generally reflected and can influence global decision making. So I think the power of the youth assembly really lies in the inclusive network that we've started to build and will continue to expand in 2026. We're connecting young farmers, innovators, researchers, and advocates from every region and giving them the space, the tools, and the support to drive change locally and globally. So my hope is as we continue to expand our reach and continue to drive youth less solutions, we can continue to work together to build more community projects that can also scale up to influence international agendas. And the Youth Assembly has such a strong role in being a bridge between generations, between regions, and between ideas and action. And I'm excited to see us help build a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable future for everyone.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

Yeah, I think that I only have one sentence for that. How envision the youth assembly for next year, I think that is implementation on the ground and showcasing how you can operationalize uh the policy.