The third edition of the Youth Ag-Summit is being held this week in Brussels, Belgium, hosting 100 bright young talents from around the world to tackle one of humanity’s biggest challenges: how to feed a growing population in a more sustainable manner. Organized by Bayer, together with Groene Kring (GK) and Fédération des Jeunes Agriculteurs (FJA), two Belgian young farmers associations, the summit aims to address the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end hunger, achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture.

Delegates from 49 countries ranging in age from 18 to 25 will work together this week to generate innovative, sustainable and actionable solutions to global food security challenges. Their mission is to come up with concrete new ideas that can drive agricultural progress across the globe and be put into practice back home.

“For the U.N. SDGs to be reached, everyone needs to do their part. By inspiring our youth to advocate for science and sustainable agriculture, we hope to tap into the creativity of great young minds to help solve a major societal challenge,” said Liam Condon, member of the Bayer AG board of management and president of the Crop Science Division. “The Youth Ag-Summit is always a hotbed of enthusiasm, creative thinking and innovation. I look forward to seeing what projects will emerge this year.”

This year, Youth Ag-Summit delegates will hear from expert and inspirational speakers, including professor Louise Fresco, president of Wageningen University & Research; Caleb Harper, director of the Open Agriculture (OpenAG) initiative, MIT Media Lab; Hugh Evans, chief executive officer of Global Citizen, and many more.

As well as talks designed to spark their creativity, delegates will have the opportunity to tour European institutions and meet with European policy-makers, visit one of Bayer’s innovative sustainable farming sites and gain real-world insights into sustainability in action from companies and organizations such as Rabobank, CropTrust, Thought for Food, BioBest, International Society for Horticultural Science, VIB – Flemish Institute for Biotech, Inagro, University Ghent and Ahold Delhaize Group.

Speaking about the partnership with Bayer, GK national chairman Giel Boey said, “We are very pleased to co-host this event, which gives young people the chance to collaborate and act on solutions for sustainable agriculture. Rather than just thinking, they will be doing.”

FJA secretary general Guillaume Van Binst added, “We need to restore the connection between those who produce our food and those who consume it. We’re proud to be this year’s co-host and are certain that the delegates’ work will have a positive impact in their communities and beyond.”

Throughout the week, delegates will work to develop “Thrive for Change Projects” -- concrete ideas to help achieve the U.N. SDGs in their communities and countries. Following a pitch process, the strongest ideas will be selected for future funding and development by Bayer.

Sophie Healy-Thow, a delegate from Ireland, said, “I’m so excited to be participating in this year’s summit and to meet 99 other like-minded people who are as passionate as me about addressing food security. I’m headed to the summit with the aim of sharing solutions, ideas and perspectives on one of the world’s most pressing challenges and of joining a network of young people committed to creating lasting change where it is really needed.”