IICA launches challenge to create the Rural Youth Community of the Americas
San Jose, 14 August 2020 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) launched a Rural Youth Challenge, aimed at developing proposals for creating the Rural Youth Community of the Americas.
The Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, participated in the launch event for the challenge, which is seeks to encourage youth between the ages of 18 and 35 in the Americas to propose joint ideas and solutions for overcoming post-Covid-19 challenges in agriculture.
“This is a great opportunity to acknowledge the role of youth as agents of change who can participate actively in the development of rural territories and in making informed, conscious and proactive decisions to meet their needs and interests”, noted Otero upon announcing the challenge on International Youth Day (August 12).
“We must better capitalize on the demographic bonus represented by this population; ours is a young continent. We acknowledge rural youth’s leading role and positive outlook for the new agriculture, which must be renewed and modernized to become more equitable, sustainable and inclusive”, added the Director General during the virtual forum entitled “Rural youth at the forefront of the new agriculture”, which was organized by IICA on that date.
Individuals participating in the challenge must develop an innovative and viable proposal for establishing a Hemispheric Rural Youth Community. The project must describe specific activities to foster networking, the joint development of solutions, the strengthening of interactions and the participation of rural youth.
IICA launched the call for proposals with support from Bayer, Cenfotec University, the Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (AEI), the Latin American Organization of Young Agro-entrepreneurs (OLAJ) and 4-H Clubs.
Participants may register for the Rural Youth Challenge until 12 September at http://desafio-innovacion.iica.int (Spanish) or http://desafio-innovacion.iica.int/en/ (English).
Participation in the call for proposals is free. The first-place winner will receive an award of USD 3,000.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division of IICA.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
genero.juventud@iica.int