Youth Leaders Drive Sustainable Food Systems in Latin America

Youth leaders, government representatives, and international organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean gathered at FAO headquarters in Rome during the World Food Forum (WFF) to strengthen youth leadership and participation in transforming agri-food systems toward more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive models.

Through intergenerational dialogue and collective workshops, participants addressed key regional challenges, including inequality, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and the effects of climate change. The discussions emphasized the critical role of young people as agents of change in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

During the meetings, participants reviewed progress on the 2025–2026 Global Youth Action Plan, which promotes the AVANZA Program, Intergenerational Dialogues for the Earth, and the Cultivating Change campaign. These initiatives support local solutions led by youth that combine traditional knowledge with sustainable innovation.

The regional intergenerational dialogue brought together ministers and deputy ministers from Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Ecuador, alongside youth representatives from WFF National Chapters in Honduras, Cuba, Argentina, and Peru. Participants shared experiences and proposals to expand decent employment, rural entrepreneurship, and effective youth participation in public policy.

Máximo Torero, Deputy Director General, FAO, highlighted the importance of generating public information goods to strengthen smallholder capacities. “The role of an institution like FAO is to generate these public information goods so that producers can access data comparable to large-scale producers on soils, rainfall, seeds and improve their varieties,” Torero said.

Luiz Beduschi, Senior Policy Officer, FAO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, called for renewed efforts to base decisions on data and evidence, integrate youth in policy design, implementation, and evaluation, and accelerate investments that support their full inclusion in agri-food systems. “We need to keep investing more and better in human capital, capacity building, and physical, digital, and green infrastructure, adapted to local conditions,” he said.

The meeting also marked the official launch of new WFF National Chapters across Latin America and the Caribbean, expanding the youth action network that promotes local solutions to global challenges in food security, climate change, and inclusive development.