Youth Ag-Summit Backgrounder
Theme: Feeding a Hungry Planet
What: The Youth Ag-Summit is a week-long event that will serve as a forum for young
leaders to discuss opportunities, collaborate and act on solutions for a sustainable
agriculture that will help feed a growing world population. Young & hungry minds from
around the world will have the opportunity to attend this summit, expenses paid, through
an essay contest. Starting in Canada in 2013 together with the youth development and
empowerment organization 4-H, the movement will continue in the southern
hemisphere.
Why: Every day, the world’s population increases by 233.000 human beings, growing
from 7.2 billion people now to 9 billion by 2050. How can we feed this hungry planet?
Solutions are keenly debated both in rural and urban communities, and depend on
visionary thinking, courage and creativity.
When: The Youth Ag-Summit will take place August 24 – 28, 2015.
Where: The Summit will take place in Canberra, Australia.
Who: Around 100 young leaders from over 20 countries, aged 18-25 who are
personally, professionally and academically interested in agriculture, international
development, environmental stewardship, food security, biotechnology and/or farming
are invited to join the table. They should have a social conscience and care about the
welfare of others locally and around the globe, to discuss the overall question on how to
feed a hungry planet.
Initiators: An initiative of Bayer CropScience, the Summit will be held in 2015 in
conjunction with Future Famers Network (FFN) Australia.
Timeline:

Application entry start date: October 2, 2014

Application close date: January 30, 2015

Participants notification: March, 2015

Program & Speaker reveal: June, 2015

Youth Ag-Summit: August 24 – 28, 2015
How to apply: Applicants are encouraged to submit a 1,500 word (maximum) essay
about the challenges of feeding a hungry planet. The essay contest question will be
revealed on October 2, 2014. Applicants will find all details related to the Youth AgSummit, rules and regulations, application form, and the function to upload their essay
at www.YouthAgSummit.com. The application process will be centrally managed over
this website.
Social Media Channels: Visit our website to discover more and join the dialogue on
our Social Media channels, with the hashtag #YouthAgSummit.
Website: www.YouthAgSummit.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/YouthAgSummit
Twitter: www.twitter.com/YouthAgSummit
YouTube: www.youtube.com/YouthAgSummit
General Conditions: If participants fail to meet international travel restrictions identified
in the rules and regulations, they will forfeit their spot at the Youth Ag-Summit.
About Future Farmers Network
Future Farmers Network (FFN) is Australia’s only national youth agricultural network
that connects & supports young Australians involved in rural industries. Operating since
2002, FFN connects youth involved in all facets of agriculture and provides members
with access to the latest news, events, scholarships, awards and information from
across all aspects of the Australian agricultural sector. To learn more about FFN visit:
http://www.futurefarmers.com.au/
About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care,
agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG
responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 8,819 million (2013)
and is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of
seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an
outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection
solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive
service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural
applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to
control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global
workforce of 22,400 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further
news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.
Contact
Future Farmers Network:
Georgie Aley, Chair
Tel. +61 447 680 359
E-Mail: georgie.aley@futurefarmers.com.au
Michael Burgess, Executive Officer
Tel. +61 428 458 086
E-Mail: michael.Burgess@futurefarmers.com.au
Bayer CropScience
Valerie Puetz, Global Project Lead
Tel. +49 2173 38-4207
E-Mail: valerie.puetz@bayer.com
Fleur Wilkins, Local Project Lead
Tel. +61 3 92486851
E-Mail: fleur.wilkins@bayer.com