MONHEIM/Germany, 17 November 2021: Dr QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, will be this year’s keynote speaker at Bayer’s 2021 Youth Ag Summit.
Leading FAO since August 2019, Dr QU has been implementing his vision that agri-food systems must be transformed in order to become more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.
This is vital to achieve the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.
The summit’s overall theme, “Feeding a Hungry Planet,” is based on the United Nations’ prediction that the planet’s population will reach 9.7 billion people by 2050 and will be faced with food security challenges.
Dr QU’s address will take place on the final day of the live global event.
“These young people have the creativity and commitment needed to help feed a growing population without starving the world,” said Liam Condon, member of the board of Management of Bayer AG and President of the Crop Science Division. “Hearing directly from the head of the FAO, Dr. QU, about his passion for making the world hunger-free is incredibly inspirational for these next generation leaders.”
To be selected, this year’s delegates presented winning “Thrive for Change” project ideas and examples of previous advocacy work based on the summit’s overall theme “Feeding a Hungry Planet.” Divinah Onditi from Kenya for example, who personally experienced food insecurity while growing up in a Kibera slum, is working on a method that empowers households anywhere to safely and affordably grow their own food with smart vegetable planters.
The Zetech University business student now hopes her experience and project inspires fellow delegates’ work on other sustainability solutions.
As an official global partner with Bayer for this year’s forum, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), in partnership with technology company Babele, will also provide a virtual idea incubator called YAS University where delegates will continue to learn entrepreneurship and leadership skills, receive coaching from mentors, and improve their own project concepts throughout a 10-week period following the November summit.