The Youth Food Lab is bringing together young innovators to tackle food systems challenges facing their local communities. It provides a platform for ten teams to transform their visions into a developed business model.

The Youth Food Lab is a collaboration between the World Food Forum (WFF), Wageningen University Research (WUR), I4Nature, and the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS). With their combination of global presence, facilitation, and academic and research backgrounds, the four partners serve as a holistic foundation for participating teams.

The nine-month program has three stages to support the teams. Janina Peters, Head of Innovation at World Food Forum tells Food Tank, “Stage one is analyzing the system that they are working on and coming up with their own systems map. Stage two is focused on the business side of things. Stage three is all around communication, marketing and storytelling.”

Teams will learn everything from fundraising and strategic planning to launching their own website for effective communication of their project goals. “In October, we have our World Food Forum Flagship event. We invite the teams to come here and present their projects at this global stage,” she adds.

This final phase will build on existing competitions including the Transformative Research Challenge (TRC), Nature Based Solutions Challenge and global project competitions. The Youth Food Lab adds a capacity development component to bring teams’ proposals to reality, helping them move from ideas to impact, and scale the solutions they are developing.

“Having a concluding chapter at the World Forum is crucial. We are showcasing that youth have solutions that are practical and implementable,” Vice President of Communications at the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS), Florence Oberlin tells Food Tank. “They just need funding and the ability to learn from older generations.”

Read the full article about youth food lab by Emily Weaver at Food Tank.