THE delegates for the second global Youth Ag-Summit have been chosen and include 22 Australians.
The Youth Ag-Summit, which will be held in Canberra from August 24 to 28, is a global youth conference to inspire and connect the next generation of young leaders in agriculture.
At the summit, 100 young leaders aged 18 to 25 from around the world will meet to share perspectives and create an open dialogue on one of the world's most challenging questions: how to feed a hungry planet?
The 100 young leaders have been selected from close to 2000 essays submitted from 87 countries.
"We received nearly 2000 essays from around the world which signals a strong interest in the issue of feeding a hungry planet. The quality of the essays was outstanding and the challenges and solutions identified highlight that opportunities like the Youth Ag-Summit provide a great platform to continue the discussions," said chair of Future Farmers Network Australia Georgie Aley. "We look forward to welcoming the delegates to Australia in August along with our partner Bayer CropScience in the delivery of the event."
Future Farmers Network Australia and Bayer CropScience are partners in delivering the forum and Bayer CropScience chief executive officer Liam Condon said there was a need for young leaders to be engaged in finding sustainable agricultural solutions to the growing global need for safe and nutritious food.
"The Youth Ag-Summit is an opportunity to broaden the perspectives from others around the world. It will also enable young leaders to further grow personally and develop their knowledge," Mr Condon said.
While the Canberra program is still to be finalised, a Bayer CropScience spokesperson said at the 2013 forum in Canada, the delegates were asked to plan three tasks they would fulfil in their communities after the forum to help feed a hungry planet.
The spokesperson said the Canberra forum would continue this commitment, but also likely include extra goals for the delegates.
This year's candidates were invited to apply between October 2014 and January 2015 by submitting a 1500 word essay outlining their position and ideas on the underlying causes of food insecurity and its effect on a growing population.
A total of 1932 essays from 87 countries were submitted, however, a list of the successful delegates is yet to be released.
The 22 delegates from Australia include six hailing from NSW, five from Victoria, four from the Australian Capital Territory, three delegates from both Queesland and Western Australia, and one from the Northern Territory.
The essays were evaluated by a diverse range of qualified and experienced industry professionals and scored fairly against their unique ideas.
Showcasing a range of insightful perspectives on food insecurity around the world, candidates tackled topics including food wastage, local produce, education and awareness of agricultural practices - all of which will contribute to the conference agenda.
The Youth Ag-Summit forms part of the Agricultural Education Program and aims at raising awareness for food and farming all over the globe.
Other delegates will represent Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA and Vietnam.
n Visit www.youthagsummit.com
