Dear HLPE Steering Committee,
Thank you for leading this consultation process in such a transparent manner. I had the pleasure to participate in the relevant online consultation in 2020, and I am excited to review this excellent draft report providing the bigger picture regarding the current status of youth engagement and employment, the benefits and limitations they have been encountering in this context, and how to ensure that youth are included as key actors and advocates for sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems.
I strongly acknowledge your message that “The future of agriculture and sustainable food systems depend on the youth”, and yet the level of support/resources/agency provided for youth needs significant improvement. This has been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, setting aside the likely drastic longer-term impact of climate change. It is inevitable that with the disruption of food systems due to the COVID-19 impact, all forms of malnutrition, including micronutrient malnutrition, will drastically increase. However, the pandemic also shed light on several innovative initiatives and technologies that would require youth taking the lead, as catalyzers and key agencies, to adopt and implement towards a sustainable, inclusive, resilient, and healthy future.
This report is timely, considering the roles youth can play in reaching the key global targets. There are less than ten years left to meet the 2030 SDG goals; five years to meet 2025 WHA targets, and we are already five years into the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition. In 2021, the year of action on nutrition, several activities will occur, including the Nutrition for Growth and, UN Food Systems summit, and other high-level, multi-stakeholder events. At the same time, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East are experiencing a youth "bulge". More than two-thirds of the population is under 35 years of age in the Middle East and North Africa region. Facilitating youth entrepreneurship to generate sustainable, well-paying jobs using youth-inclusive innovations/approaches/policies and programs, positioned in the frame of nutritious food systems will ensure the sustainability of agriculture and healthier diets for future generations. Young entrepreneurs are both adopters and drivers of innovation, technology (including digital technology), and growth in the agri-food sector.
Nutrient enrichment of crops through biofortification is the process of conventionally breeding staple food crops that have higher levels of essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin A. There is substantial evidence that biofortification contributes to reaching key global commitments by tackling hidden hunger, which has been more widespread for the last decades when compared with hidden hunger. It has a direct impact on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 to achieve zero hunger and provide access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food and SDG 3 to ensure good health and promote well-being for all. By targeting smallholder farmers whose diets rely on staple foods and who have limited access to nutritious foods or other nutrition interventions, biofortification ensures that "no one is left behind" in the fight against hidden hunger worldwide. This impact is magnified by youth entrepreneurs who magnify productivity through technology and extend the reach of these nutritionally enriched crops through food marketing and product development.
In the 2017 HLPE Report on nutrition and food systems, biofortification is integrated into Figure 15 on improved food systems for better diets and nutrition, as an example of policies/programs that increase nutrition in the supply chain.
Biofortification is equitable as staple foods are consumed by all members of a family – regardless of age or gender – unlike other nutritious foods (such as animal source foods, which may be preferentially consumed by male members). It is inclusive; these nutrient-enriched crops empower women from the farm through the value chain, often delivering beyond nutrition with shorter cooking windows or better food processing characteristics. As an innovative technology, it can attract youth to the nexus of agriculture, food systems, and nutrition. It aims to empower the agripreneurs in nutritionally enriched food value chains from farm to fork and nourish all, particularly children, adolescent girls, and women of child-bearing age.
Some examples of our work engaging/capacitating the youth are below:
- Nigeria: https://www.harvestplus.org/knowledge-market/in-the-news/biofortificati…
- Uganda: https://www.harvestplus.org/knowledge-market/in-the-news/ugandan-youth-…
- Zimbabwe: https://www.harvestplus.org/knowledge-market/in-the-news/reaching-sky-a…
Biofortification is a robust nutrition response amidst COVID-19. Integrating biofortified crops in the food systems is a sustainable way to build resilience, as those crops are produced locally, rely on short supply chains, can be stored for an extended period of time, and are therefore more resilient to global supply chain disruptions and shocks. As also highlighted in the draft, even amidst COVID-19, youth employment in primary production/agriculture has been much more resilient. Youth’s adoption of such local and impactful innovations that require minimum behavior change, and are scalable and cost-effective, will improve their livelihood and contribution to a healthier planet.
Research is now demonstrating that zinc nutrient-enriched crops can play a critical role in addressing noncommunicable diseases, especially type 2 diabetes, providing a consistent supply, unlike supplementation.
HarvestPlus, as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, works with over 600 partners worldwide to improve human nutrition and health by biofortification and through the entire value chain, from farm to plate. Up to date, 24 developing countries have included biofortification in their policies/programs, and more than 240 nutritious, climate-smart, high-yielding, biofortified varieties have been released in 30 countries. As the CEO of HarvestPlus, I look to food systems founded on nutritionally enriched staple foods, with youth playing a major role in embracing innovative technology in farming and food systems, to transform their food systems to nourish future generations enabling them to reach their full potential and growth. For instance, research has shown that regular consumption of iron beans reduced iron deficiency, improved brain and cognitive performance for Rwandan female university students, and consuming these nutrient-enriched also improved physical work efficiency for young women (18-26 y). And, consuming iron pearl millet improved cognitive performance and physical performance and activity in adolescent children.
Given all the evidence on the impact and biofortification’s proven potential in engaging and empowering the youth, I would recommend that you kindly consider including biofortification in the context of question 3 about the roles/factors that make farming/integration in food systems an attractive option, and question 6 seeking successful policy initiatives that have improved youth employment and engagement in agriculture and food systems.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have follow-up questions. It would also be my pleasure to share additional resources and participate in future steps of the consultative process if that would prove helpful.
Yours Sincerely,
Arun Baral
Arun Baral