International Youth Day: Transforming food systems
International Youth Day: Transforming food systems
To celebrate this year’s International Youth Day, our Marketing Analyst Zephyr Giddings explores the importance of young people’s involvement in transforming food systems. Zephyr is currently on an internship placement with LettUs Grow through Babbasa.
"Sometimes, it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom." - Nelson Mandela.
Every year, International Youth Day falls on the 12th of August. This notable day brings the opportunity for society to celebrate and highlight the importance of young people, not just as a future generation but also as a current driving force of change in the world. So, who exactly are the youth?
In truth, there is no universally agreed definition of the youth age group. However, for statistical purposes, the United Nations (UN) defines “youth” as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24. Today, there are 1.2 billion young people accounting for 16% of the global population. Of this, 429 million are engaged in employment. However, even for young people who are in employment, not all is well as 77% are informally employed. This means jobs held by young people are frequently associated with low pay, poor working conditions, limited legal and social security, often resulting in them being taken advantage of.
The barriers to young people finding employment in the formal sector are multifaceted but can be narrowed down to the lack of entry-level jobs, employers' negative perceptions of the youth and the youth’s lack of transferable skills due to low-skilled employment. This highlights the numerous obstacles in place for young people, which can restrict their ability to see potential in themselves. Evidently, there is a real need for greater support for young people in order to elevate them to where they can thrive.
That is why youth organisations like Babbasa are so important, as they help the younger generation to obtain meaningful employment. The Young People’s Health Partnership expresses that having meaningful work is widely recognised as a key part of wellbeing. The Bristol-based social enterprise, Babbasa, is an advocate for empowering young people, particularly from ethnically diverse and less advantaged backgrounds, to move into employment, so they feel inspired, supported and ready to fulfill their ambitions. Babbasa provides a range of opportunities such as soft skills training, mentoring schemes, career-orientated events and personalised recruitment support. All of which contributes to the building of skills and confidence within our youth, helping them to increase their employability.
Because of their altruism, they have developed a collaborative network of over 500 cross-sector organisations, and their unique programmes have supported over 2,200 young people, from 67 different cultural backgrounds, to successfully advance their professional ambitions. Their message is that every young person has a unique skill or talent which, if explored and nurtured, can advance humanity in a significant way.
The potential of young people is not only seen through Babbasa. Organisations that participate in their programmes are also advocates of supporting our youth. Companies like LettUs Grow have partnered with Babbasa, providing the young people of Bristol with opportunities such as mentoring, site visits and placements within the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector. Both organisations share similarities in that they were founded by university students who had aspirations for implementing positive change. LettUs Grow’s founders Charlie Guy, Ben Crowther and Jack Farmer met at Bristol University before LettUs Grow’s establishment in 2015, all sharing the ambition of tackling the global problems of food waste and supply chain inefficiency, after learning that nearly 70% of bagged salad bought in the UK ended up being wasted. Over the past five years, the mission of three young persons have blossomed into a thriving farming technology company, employing over 30 people. Since 2015, LettUs Grow has developed an extremely efficient way of growing plants in completely controlled environments, including the control of all the inputs to growth with a unique aeroponic system, which has been shown to massively increase the growth rate of plants, simultaneously reducing the resource cost.
The ambition for food security from LettUs Grow’s founders as university students is shared with millions of young people across the globe. The theme of this year’s International Youth Day is “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”, highlighting that the success of such a global effort will not be achieved without the meaningful participation of young people. With the world’s population expected to increase by 2 billion people in the next 30 years, it has become recognised that simply producing a larger volume of healthier food more sustainably will not ensure human and planetary wellbeing. Through this, the UN states there is a need for inclusive support mechanisms that ensure the youth continue to amplify effort collectively and individually to restore the planet and protect life, while integrating biodiversity in the transformation of food systems.
During the 2021 ECOSOC Youth Forum (EYF), young participants came together to spotlight issues and priorities, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly related to its effect on human health, the environment and food systems. As part of the official outcome recommendations, the young participants stressed the importance of working towards more equitable food systems. They also highlighted the need for the youth to make informed decisions on food choices through increasing global education on the healthiest and most sustainable options for both individuals and the environment.
Clearly, the voices, actions and ideas of our youth should not be undervalued, but instead be normalised and nurtured. Youth can be a positive force for development when provided with the knowledge and opportunities they need to thrive. To support our youth on International Youth Day, join in the #YouthLead Innovation Festival 2021, which will take place from August 12th to the 13th. This festival aims to provide a platform for young people to continue the momentum from the 2021 EYF, in the lead up to the high-level Food Systems Summits. You can register for the event here.