Pharmaceutical company Bayer will be the main sponsor for the 2017 Youth AG-Summit in Brussels, Belgium, the capital of the European Union, Oct. 9-13.
The theme of the summit is “Feeding a Hungry Planet.” It goes along with the summit’s main goal: working on finding solutions on feeding the world’s increasing population.
“Every day, the world's population increases by 233,000 people, growing from 7.2 billion now to around 10 billion by 2050,” Bayer Corporate Communications representative Casey Allen told Crop Protection News. “The goal is to have all delegates share perspectives and create an open dialogue on how the global agricultural community will meet the task of nourishing a growing global population.
As part of the summit, 100 young individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 from around the world will be invited to take part. They will take part in talks working on solutions to sustainably feed our growing worldwide population.
“The delegates will be selected in the spring of 2017 following the evaluation of all applications and essays,” Allen said. “A formal announcement of the winners will be made locally in each participating country in mid-May.”
As an initiative of Bayer, the summit was held in 2015 in conjunction with two Belgian youth organizations for young farmers: Groene Kring (GK) and the Fédération des Jeunes Agriculteurs (FJA). GK represents the Dutch speaking region of Flanders and the FJA represents French-speaking Walloon.
"Bayer has always put focus on partnering with local, relevant youth ag-organizations because of their local relevance and know-how,” Allen said, “In addition, we believe that together with partners, the YAS will become more impactful we can offer a much broader perspective to the delegates.
Brussels was chosen as the site for its significance in modern European politics. It is the seat of European parliament, the headquarters of many of the European Union’s sub-organizations, and corporations that do business all around the world.
“Here, all governments, multinational companies, civil society and media take a seat at the table to shape the continent and beyond.” Allen said. “Bayer has a long-standing tradition in Europe, It's here where the company's history began, and it is here where we're committed to nurturing a new generation of leaders.
This will be the third AG summit. The first one took place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 2013, followed by the second summit in Canberra, Australia in 2015.
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