Students from Uzbekistan took an active part in the World Food Forum (WFF) taking place from 16 to 20 October at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy, FAO Country Office reports.

The participation of the youth delegation from Uzbekistan was supported by the FAO Country Office in Uzbekistan and the UNDP Project (EU-AGRIN) funded by the European Union.

The World Food Forum is a dynamic global platform that transcends boundaries, generations, and sectors to transform the future of our agrifood systems. The flagship event brought together world experts, impassioned changemakers, and visionary leaders of all ages around the theme: “Agrifood systems transformation accelerates climate action”.

Organized into three interlinked fora – the WFF Global Youth Forum, the FAO Science and Innovation Forum, and the FAO Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum – the 2023 flagship event will leverage the power of intergenerational collaboration and creativity across policy, science, innovation, education, culture, and investment. The goal is to forge new paths of action, impact, and acceleration on the local, regional, and global levels toward a sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and hunger-free food future for all. 

The forum convened young people to discuss the most effective ways to transform agrifood systems through innovation and technologies. Among them were the members of the National Youth Delegation of Uzbekistan – Abdusalom Abdurozikov, A’lo Kholmatova, Madina Saidullaeva, Farrukh Ziyodullaev, and Khusniddin Erkulov, students of the Tashkent State Agrarian University.

As noted in the national statement of the youth of Uzbekistan delivered by the members of the youth delegation at the Global Youth Forum during the Regional Youth Assembly session – Europe & Central Asia, “Despite the challenges that Uzbekistan faces in connection with the Aral Sea crisis, the country’s modern youth are the main driving force on the path to environmental restoration, sustainable agriculture, and water conservation. As the guardians of today and tomorrow, we recognize education as the cornerstone for a flourishing agrifood sector”.

Within the framework of the World Food Forum, the youth delegation from Uzbekistan met with Angélica María Jácome Daza, FAO Director for the Office of Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries. The meeting provided an excellent platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities for increasing the agrifood systems sustainability in landlocked countries, including Central Asia.

Due to an eventful and exciting programme, the week-long World Food Forum promoted dialogue between youth, farmers, agricultural producers, policymakers, scientists, and investors about global food issues.

UzA