100 participants drawn from two agricultural institutions will make up Bayer’s East Africa local Youth Summit 2024 cohort this January.
The event which is locally organized invited young agricultural leaders with a passion for sustainable global agriculture for the opportunity to learn and collaborate with others on solutions to issues challenging food security.
This year’s delegates come from Kenyatta University School of Agriculture and Environmental Studies and the Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF – Youth Wing) JKUAT).
Today, our planet faces the challenge of using fewer natural resources while feeding a growing population predicted to reach almost 10 billion by 2050.
The day-to-day realities of farming, agricultural production, and food consumption call for new kinds of innovation.Innovations that can transform today’s challenges into tomorrow’s breakthroughs.
We believe that, as the agricultural leaders of tomorrow, young people should be at the forefront of these efforts.
The Bayer Youth Summit is their platform.
It’s against this backdrop and in support of its commitment to provide development opportunities to the young people that Bayer East Africa in collaboration with Kenya Water for Health Organization (KWAHO) has organized for the Bayer East Africa local Youth Summit 2024 (BYS 2024) to promote this agenda by engaging the youth to participate in a 4 day event (three-day boarding) from 25th to 28th January 2024 at the Rowallan National Camp, Nairobi Kenya.
It has become largely evident that youth are critical players in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges including in agriculture.
As a result, the 2024 summit will be themed around Youth involvement in Agriculture.
Anchored in our brand mission “Health for All and Hunger for None” the summit runs under the theme “Empowering the youth: Agricultural Transformation through Agribusiness and Innovations” which aims to highlight youth as key and strategic partners in the fight against food insecurity and accelerating agribusiness while pioneering innovations towards zero hunger by bringing out the innovativeness, transformational and empathetical ways that the youth will showcase in becoming change-makers and ring leaders in addressing food insecurity.
“In Bayer, Innovation is an integral part of our work and strategy. We are committed to empowering the youth and to help youth leaders address different challenges within our community.
Bayer Youth Summit is a great opportunity for us to empower the next generation of agricultural change-makers, since young people have the creativity and commitment needed to help feed a growing population,“ explains Mr. Joern Kraegeloh, Bayer East Africa Managing Director.
“By supporting youth, we are creating a passionate network of people willing to change the way agriculture works and find new paths for everyone’s well-being making it more efficient and sustainable,” He added.
While officiating the kick off for the 2024 Bayer Youth Summit Anthony Maina, Bayer Head of Communications-Africa emphasized on Bayer’s commitment to the Youth and on the need for them to immerse themselves in Agri-Business and innovation as a means to combat climate change.
“This Summit is in line with Bayer’s commitment to collaborate with communities to find solutions for the most pressing issues”, added Mr Maina.
Presently half of the world’s young people live in Sub Saharan Africa.
Although they are heavily and directly affected by water issues, climate change and are the most unemployed group, many youths remain marginalized from political processes and excluded from participating in decisions that affect their lives.
This happens without the recognition that these young people will bear the major consequences of the policy choices that are made today.
Conversely, faster progress in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is hinged on the role youths play and the resultant productive change.
Young people have the potential and willingness to bring about momentous change by translating the SDGs into a sustainable future for all.
At the end of the summit, the students will be divided into squads and will be challenged to develop game changing ideas aimed at promoting food security where innovative and digitally transformative strategies/ideas are anticipated.
An awarding session to crown the climax of the summit is scheduled to take place on Sunday, January 28, 2024 whereby the best team will be awarded a prize of 1000 USD for them to implement their idea.
Bayer East Africa Managing Director, Mr. Joern Kraegeloh, County Agriculture Stakeholders and Bayer colleagues are some of the guests that have been invited to grace the occasion.
Examples of projects pitched and developed from earlier Summits include `Doctor Mind Your Mind`, an application to create a safe mental health for everybody; `Plastikere`-Recycling and repurposing of plastic to create a form of charcoal for cooking and Sensitization on Water Resource Management in Nyamira South County.
The latter was selected as the best innovative project in the 2023 cohort.
