Young people are major food system actors and a lever for development 

 

During his recent speeches, the Secretary-General Plácido Plaza recalled the importance of Mediterranean youth and the role they can play in meeting the challenges of food security, adaptation to climate change and rural migration. He also highlighted the strategic investment to be made in human capital, especially in the most fragile areas. 

 

 

 

The Mediterranean region has to deal with food security challenges (hunger, mal-nutrition, dependance to food importation...), poverty concentrated in rural and agricultural areas, high unemployment rates among young people and women (even graduates) while the agricultural, rural and fishing sectors are a potential provider of sustainable and local jobs and in demand of workforce. 

 

These sectors, that have two to three times more impact on poverty reduction and growth in other sectors, need the potential of young people to meet the increasing food demand that requires new production models, to help in the adaptation of agriculture to climate change and tackle the lack of natural resources.

 

 

 

During the geopolitical meeting in Florence" The Mediterranean: From the Mare Nostrum to the Global Sea" organised by the ARS and Il Nodo di Gordio, the Open Innovation Meeting, which hosted business, companies and actors of innovation in CIHEAM Bari, or during the opening address of the "Concert for the earth" organised by the CIHEAM Bari, with the support of the Italian Cooperation and the FAO on the occasion of World Food Day,  Plácido Plaza recalled the commitment of the CIHEAM to support the young Mediterranean people through training and capacity building activities tailored to local development issues, research networking and platforms for exchange and meetings dedicated to young PhD students and researchers of the region. 

 

Empowering and strengthening the place of young people in Mediterranean food systems will be at the heart of the next Ministerial meeting of the CIHEAM " Strengthening the Place of Young People and Women in Mediterranean Food systems" and the CIHEAM Ministerial Side-Event " Investing in Human Capital: the Importance of Youth and Women in the Development of Rural and Agricultural Areas".

 

For all these reasons, empowering and strengthening the place of young people in Mediterranean food systems will be at the heart of the next Ministerial meeting of the CIHEAM " Strengthening the Place of Young People and  Women in Mediterranean Food systems" and the CIHEAM Ministerial Side-Event " Investing in Human Capital: the Importance of Youth and Women in the Development of Rural and Agricultural Areas".