High school students from 27 states and territories and nine countries were selected to attend the 24th Annual Global Youth Institute October 19-21st in Des Moines, Iowa. Heather Rowe from Winner High School was among the 200 students selected to attend the prestigious three-day conference. Rowe engaged with global leaders in science, policy, and industry to discuss the world’s most pressing challenges in hunger and poverty.
In order to participate in the program, students research and write a paper on a topic affecting food security in a developing country and provide recommendations on how to better the lives of a typical family in the country. Once accepted, students are invited to attend the three-day event and engage in hands-on activities and service-learning projects that allow them to reflect on their unique role in addressing challenges related to agriculture, policy, science, industry, and hunger relief efforts both in the U.S. and abroad.
The Global Youth Institute is held in conjunction with the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium, which annually gathers the world’s foremost leaders and thinkers in global food security. Students present and discuss their innovative ideas to combat hunger with World Food Prize Laureates, international experts and peers from over 60 countries. Students also attend symposium sessions centered on current research, trends, and innovations in combating hunger and poverty. Featured speakers included:
· 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group
· Dr. Rajiv Shah, President, Rockefeller Foundation
· His Excellency John Mahama, former President of Ghana
· Dr. Louise Fresco, President of the Executive Board, Wageningen University & Research Center
At the Global Youth Institute, Rowe interacted with young leaders from around the US as well as nine other countries including Canada, China, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, Kosovo, Mexico, Pakistan, and Philippines. The World Food Prize Foundation also announced plans to expand its youth programs outside the US with the launch of the first international youth institutes in the Netherlands and Nigeria in summer 2018.
Created by Dr. Borlaug and Iowa businessman and philanthropist John Ruan in 1994, the Global Youth Institute receives major support from Clay Mathile and the Mathile Institute for the Advancement of Human Nutrition. The program was developed to challenge and inspire participating student and teachers to identify innovative strategies to alleviate hunger and to expose the students to opportunities and careers in food, agriculture and natural resource disciplines. Of the students who complete the program, about 92% go on to pursue college degrees in agriculture and science and 77% choose careers in agriculture, STEM and other fields critical to the fight against hunger. The Institute also boasts an impressive, two-thirds participation by young women. Dr. Borlaug often stated, “I am certain that these students will become the future agricultural, scientific and humanitarian leaders in the fight to end hunger”.
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