This year’s early disclosure of the dates for the independent, youth-led World Food Forum, an independent, youth-led global network of partners facilitated by the Food and Agricul-ture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), from October 14-18 in Rome, reflects what unquestionably is the current preoccupation of the international community with restoring what, in many instances, are the thoroughly degraded bona fides of global food security. While the Stabroek Busi-ness has been unable, up to this time, to determine whether Guyana will be participating in this event, it is instructive to note that the forum seeks, according to a release on the forum, to spark a global movement that “empowers young people to… actively shape agrifood systems to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a better food future for all.”
At a time when food security is particularly high on the list of global preoccupations, the WFF is staging the forum in the context of its mission “to harness the passion and power of youth to identify solutions and incite positive action for agrifood systems,” the release on the forum says. Additionally, it states that the forum “aligns with the 2021 United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit,” acting as a “major youth platform in global food governance” and serving as “a global think tank that fosters youth-led solutions in innovation, science and technology.” The WFF, the disclosure on the forum says, “aims to support and grow youth initiatives in the agrifood sector in line with global youth policy recommendations, focusing in 2024 on the theme, ‘Agrifood systems transformation accelerates climate action.’”
