Dear all
I would like to respond to the question on; How can we ensure the participation of youth in the wider food security dialogue?
First of all i think for the youth to actively participate in food security dialogues, they need to be exposed to food security issues, and have a clue regarding to whats going on around and how important it is so as to capture their interest. Capturing the interest of the youth to food security issues need them being engaged or exposed to such issues at young ages especially in the early grades of various education systems so that they have an appreciation of food security issues early . The result is that if many of them develop an interest in food security at a young age, then a greater proportion of them will likely be able to take courses to do with agriculture and food security at tertiary level of education and eventually develop their careers around those subjects. For example i have just learnt that in Zimbabwe agriculture has been added as a compulsory subject in primary school, and i think it is out of that consideration to make students grow with an appreciation of agriculture and food security issues.
Therefore in conclusion, ensuring participation of the youth in the wider food security dialogue should be viewed as a long term process which does not happen over night but starts with developing their interest over time as they grow from childhood.
Kind regards
Comfort Mare
Г-н Comfort Mare