Engaged, Will The World’s Youth Save Us From Climate Change Via Food? Hopefully, If They Will Effect A Primate Change In Themselves First!

“I know that youth action is key in transforming agri-food systems to feed the world” – former PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar said in his keynote speech at the FAO World Food Forum last Tuesday in Rome, Italy.

I am reading Mr Dar’s speech, “Transforming Rice-Based Agri-food Systems,” delivered 18 Oct 2022 at the World Food Forum, which covered Youth Action, Science & Innovation, and Investment. That said, of all the speakers at the forum, why am I singling out Mr Dar? Because he is a Filipino primate like me, and he had been my favorite PH Secretary of Agriculture in the last 24 years since President Erap appointed him in 1998. He has excellent international exposure. With his Vision, Mission & Strategy, his 15-year Director General-ship of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India brought ICRISAT from dead last to #1 among 15 CGIAR agencies, including IRRI. Unbelievable!

We adult primates having failed our world, the young primates will have to take over – and I expect a Groupmate Change all over the world. I say, “Action” would include looking at the world upside down!
(“Youth Action: World Forum” from youtube.com)

Mr Dar opened his Rome speech with these words:

Your Excellencies, distinguished leaders and ministers, friends and likeminded food security advocates, we hold this edition of the World Food Forum under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization led by my good friend Director-General Qu Dongyu, at a time the world is wracked by three C’s: the Covid-19 pandemic, Climate Change, and Conflicts in the geopolitical order. We are in the midst of a perfect storm.

The C that I know more about is Climate Change, so I will write on that. What we need is Primate Change, of which I already advocated 15 years ago – see my essay, “Primate Change? Or Climate Change?” (31 March 2007, The American Frank, wordpress.com).

Mr Dar continues:

These three C’s shook the foundations of our food systems and loosened our bearings on key principles: the global trade in food, long-running agricultural practices dependent on chemical inputs, and logistical and distribution systems pushed off their working order.

I know that youth action is key in transforming agri-food systems to feed the world.

The youth will save us adults yet!

As yet, we are inching towards significant target achievement by 2030 in Sustainable Development Goal No 2, which is Zero Hunger. But we are also aiming for quality, nutritious food in achieving this goal.

The general discomfort and detected challenges with which we now appraise our food systems now portend our approach to science and innovation.

Beyond Zero Hunger, Mr Dar is saying, we need to produce healthy foods.

Personally, I say, young people in/out of science, we can produce healthy foods by following the precepts, principles & practices of Regenerative Agriculture (RA), the concept invented by Robert Rodale in early 1980s (en.wikipedia.org). Time to study RA to regenerate us all!@517