The event featured the participation of the Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications of Costa Rica, Paola Vega; the Vice-Minister of Agriculture of Costa Rica, Laura Pacheco Ovares; IFAD’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rossana Polastri; and the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, as well as other authorities of the International Fund.
San José, Costa Rica, 4 March, 2021 –The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations agency for rural development, launched today the Second Edition of the Rural Youth Innovation Award in Latin America and the Caribbean, an initiative supported by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
The goal of the competition is to identify and reward innovative youth-driven initiatives that contribute to overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in rural areas of the region.
Rossana Polastri, IFAD Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, explained the crucial importance of rural youth for the United Nations agency. “Investing in the rural youth is essential to ensure a dynamic economic growth, which will make rural communities prosperous, inclusive and sustainable places, where no one is left behind and where the impacts of climate change do not make life and agricultural production impossible”.
Polastri affirmed that “in times of change, young people play a fundamental role, as they are more willing to take risks and adopt new technologies, thus multiplying the possible benefits of investments in favor of food security, poverty reduction and the generation of employment, peace and political stability. The rural sector and family farming need the youth for their transformation, and it is they who must decide the direction of this new path”.
Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA, stated that in Latin America and the Caribbean, young people represent a demographic bonus whose protagonism and positive vision “can lead to a new, equitable, sustainable and inclusive agriculture”, which will open up a wide range of opportunities in the rural areas of the region.
“As agents of change, the youth of the Americas are a fundamental piece to ensure that the innovation that our agriculture so direly needs reaches the fields, thus unleashing the potential of our continent to be the guarantor of world food security, a challenge that undoubtedly needs new leaderships and a renewed vision of agriculture and rurality”, he added.
The launch of the Second Edition of the Rural Youth Innovation Award took place at IICA headquarters in San José, Costa Rica, in an event that was attended by Otero and various Government representatives of the country.
The success of the First Edition of the Rural Youth Innovation Award in Latin America and the Caribbean encouraged IFAD to organize this second installment. Last year, the first edition of the award sought to boost and strengthen the capacities of rural youth in the region and promote the opportunities generated by young people who are changing the rural world.
IFAD received almost 600 nominations from across the region, and selected ten innovative initiatives by rural youth, including, for example, the Hexa Biotec group project, which is producing food supplements for animals and fertilizers based on organic waste in Mexico, thus creating a circular economy with zero waste while reducing CO2 emissions. Another example is the Libertat group, which since 2018 provides financial education to small rural producers in Colombia, either in person or remotely, with no academic prerequisites.
The recipients have benefited from cash prizes, equipment, media coverage and professional training in various areas, and were able to engage in a process of exchange of experiences and initiatives.
Registration for the second edition of the Rural Youth Innovation Award in Latin America and the Caribbean will be open until Sunday, April 4. Applications will be accepted from young people between 18 and 35 years old, nationals or residents of the LAC region, who compete with a project that is already implemented and within any of the following categories:
• Financial inclusion
• Recycling and alternative energy
• Connectivity solutions
• Empowerment of women and gender inclusion
• Marketing solutions and market access
The initiatives will be evaluated by a committee comprising technicians and experts from agencies of the United Nations, civil society organizations working in the field of rural development, and private companies. The initiatives presented will be selected and given their respective awards based on criteria such as the degree of innovation; the ability to overcome the challenges brought about by COVID-19 in rural areas; the possibility of expanding / replicating the initiative in other countries in the region; the positive impact on vulnerable or historically excluded groups, especially women; and their ability to counterbalance isolation and connect people.
A total of 10 projects – 2 per category – will be recognized in June 2021. The winning initiatives will be showcased in the various communication channels of the Award and of IFAD, to provide them with visibility and encourage replication in other Latin American and Caribbean countries. In addition, the winners will have access to international training and financial resources provided by private companies sponsoring the event.
The Rural Youth Innovation Award is an initiative of the Center for South-South Cooperation and Knowledge of IFAD’s Division for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Brasilia. The Award is part of IFAD and IICA’s efforts to increase the number of components and activities geared directly towards youth and rural development in their region. For more information about the Award and / or to submit your initiative, visit: www.premiojovenrural.org.
Contact:
Juan Ignacio Cortés
Tel. +34 680 22 05 66
Elodie E. Esteve
e.esteve@ifad.org
Tel. +55 (61) 99879-9288
