Side Event: A "seed" at the table: Growing youth participation in agrifood systems transformation

The potential returns of investing in young people are boundless in terms of food and nutrition security, poverty reduction, improved livelihoods, and they are one of the keys to achieve holistic transition towards more resilient, equitable and sustainable food systems. This potential is largely untapped, both in production and along the supply chain, and is further hampered by poor access to financial instruments, land and natural resources, infrastructure, technology, and knowledge. Youth engagement and leadership are linked intrinsically to countless aspects of food and nutrition security, at local, national, regional, and global levels, and yet their ideas and participation are not mainstreamed at the decision table.  This session seeks to better understand the position of youth, especially at the nexus of urban and peri-urban food systems transitions and explore the various ways to bring youth voices to the decision table. This session also provides the opportunity for the audience to understand, from the perspective of funding agencies and academic partners, the expectations and limitations to better enable youth participation and engagements for food systems transformation.