NIGERIA YOUTH IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE EXPLORATORY DIALOGUE

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has rolled out plan to convene a Food Systems Summit as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Summit will launch bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs, each of which relies to some degree on healthier, more sustainable and equitable food systems.

It is significant to note that Youth in Food and Agriculture are important to the submission of the Government of Nigeria to the UN Global Summit scheduled to hold in September, 2021. It is in light of this that  the Permanent Secretary Budget and National Planning, Mrs Olusola Idowu was appointed as the  National Convenor to coordinate the various levels of Dialogues in Nigeria as required by the UN System. This is for Nigeria to come up with a credible and actionable national medium and long term plan that will be submitted to the Global Food system summit.  The National Convenor was expected to work with all relevant stakeholders and coordinate various exploratory dialogues at both national, subnational including Community and Local Government, organizational and individual that will eventually produce a Country position on moving food forward. The Dialogues at all levels will also form the basis for medium and long term plan to be reviewed for consideration by all stakeholders including our policy makers at the Consolidatory Dialogue. This is to ensure that all relevant stakeholders are engaged for country ownership and a comprehensive solution to address the challenges of food and nutrition in Nigeria. The Dialogue by the Youth in food, nutrition and agriculture is also to ensure that no one is left behind in addressing food and nutrition challenges from the farm to the dining table in Nigeria.

The Dialogues by the Youth Group is to specifically consult with different stakeholders to identify gaps and proffer solutions that can support the transformation of local and global food systems to improve nutrition and food security, promote economic growth, create jobs and impact positively on citizens.

2. Objectives of the Youth in Food, Nutrition and Agriculture Group

The objectives of Youth in Agriculture Exploratory Dialogue are to:

1. Interact with different categories of youth both male and female in Food, Agriculture and Nutrition as a critical stakeholders in the food system with a view to recommend the way forward to  solving the challenges of Agriculture and  food system in Nigeria;
2. Elicit the inputs of the Youth  Group to strengthen the submission of Nigeria to the Global Food System Summit;
3. Recommend the way forward to addressing food and nutrition through dialogue and renewed commitment by Youth stakeholders in the sector; and
4. Encourage a collaborative approach towards building an effective Food Systems in Nigeria.

3.JUSTIFICATION FOR THE YOUTH GROUP EXPLORATORY DIALOGUE

It is important to note that the Secretary General of the UN recommended a three level dialogues at country level that will enable and enrich inputs into the Global Food System Summit that is planned to hold in New York in September, 2021. The three levels Dialogues includes National Inception Dialogue, Exploratory Dialogue and Consolidatory Dialogue.  It is on the basis of this that the Government of Nigeria organized the Inception National Dialogue on the 23^rd February, 2021 while the Regional  Exploratory dialogues in the six Geopolitical zones were also held from 6^th – 9^th April, 2021. There have also been various independent Exploratory Dialogues by Groups, Individuals and organisations in collaboration with the Government under the coordination of the National Convenor. The Community and Local Government Exploratory Dialogues was also held in 8 States on 18^th May, 2021 while the Organised Private sector led by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) organized a Dialogue in collaboration with the  Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (FMFBNP) on 25^th May, 2021. The Value Chain Group in collaboration with the FMFBNP and Federal Ministry of Agriculture had a Dialogue on 27^th May, 2021. It is in light of the above that the youth in Food and Agriculture is organizing a Dialogue that will bring together all categories of youth in food and Agriculture to bring up catalytic issues and ideas that can move the food system forward in Nigeria.

4. METHODOLOGY

The Youth Group in Food and Agriculture will engage Youth in the Food System in a dialogue. The Dialogue will be moderated by a Curator as moderator and facilitated by five Facilitators through a virtual interactions that will elicit inputs based on issues, challenges and recommendation with communique that will feed into the outcomes of other Exploratory Dialogues from other stakeholders. The Youth in Agriculture and Food Dialogue will eventually feed into the Consolidatory dialogues that is scheduled for the last week in June, 2021. The following five Action Tracks as prescribed by the UN will be discussed and explored with particular reference to youth in food, nutrition and agriculture in Nigeria:

1. Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all.
2. Shift to sustainable consumption patterns.
3. Boost nature-positive production.
4. Advance equitable livelihoods.
5. Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress.

5.Engagement Modalities

The following principles of engagement will be observed:

1. Act with urgency
2. Commit to the Summit
3. Be respectful
4. Recognize complexity
5. Embrace multi-stakeholder inclusivity
6. Complement the work of others
7. Build trust

6. Preliminary Meeting

There will be preliminary meetings between the organizers of the summit, the National Convenor/Permanent Secretary, Budget and National Planning and other relevant Stakeholders. There will also be a training for the Curators and Facilitators that may not be familiar with the dialogue for them  to be guided on the rules of the Dialogue.

7. Dialogue

In preparation for the dialogue, participants will be encouraged to register in the online Registration platform to be backstopped by the United Nations Information System (UNIC) Nigeria Office. The participants will be encouraged to register and choose their Track of interest from the five Action Tracks.

The Dialogue will be held virtually via zoom, with 5 different syndicate groups that will discuss and deliberate on each Action Track while a Facilitator will lead the group discussion. There will also be a note taker for each Action Track while the entire Dialogue will be moderated by an experienced and knowledgeable Curator. Facilitators will be expected to submit the report of their Group outcomes in a customized Template to the Curator who will later submit to the National Convenor for transmission to the designated UN Portal and finally integrated into the national report.