Independent National Dialogue on Youth Engagement in Sri Lanka’s Food Systems: Findings from the National and Provincial Level

Food systems form complex webs of food production, supply, and value chain activities that play an integral part for food security and livelihoods of people across the globe. In this, youth are a key stakeholder group
who rely upon the sustainability and stability of food systems for their health, wellbeing, nutrition, development, and livelihoods while also having the potential to engage and facilitate food system transformation. Youth equally have the power to change consumption and production patterns in a
positive or negative direction. Therefore, youth engagement to find a way forward to build resilient food systems is paramount to ensure the health and well-being of the planet and of generations to come

SLYCAN Trust has organized a series of youth-focused independent national and provincial dialogues as part of the United Nations Food Systems Summit process in parallel to the member state dialogues
conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture. The event series targeted youth between18-35 years from all nine provinces, aiming to bring forth their ideas in line with the Summit’s five action tracks and collect
their input on the role of youth in sustainable and resilient food systems.

Guided by five Action Tracks and four “levers of change,” the United Nations Food Systems Summit is aimed at transforming the way the world produces and consumes food as a part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 1 by 2030. The five action tracks include: ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all; shifting to sustainable consumption patterns; boosting nature-
positive production; advancing equitable livelihoods; and building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks, and stresses.

This event is organized with the aim of launching the integrated report which shares the information gathered through the series of youth dialogues as well as highlighting key aspects and findings related to youth engagement in climate action, food systems, and resilience-building. It targets an audience of key government entities and officials, other organizations working on food systems and youth in the country, universities and research institutions, the private sector, and other relevant stakeholders in the Sri Lankan food systems space.

Objectives

• Launching the integrated report of inputs received during the series of national and provincial youth
  dialogues and presenting key findings regarding the perspectives and engagement of youth in climate
  action and resilient food systems.
• Increasing awareness of the importance of youth engagement for climate action and resilient food systems and identifying further avenues and entry points for enhanced youth engagement.
• Contributing to processes to enhance food systems, in particular those around the UN Food Systems
  Summit, the SDGs, and on the national level, by identifying challenges and scalable solutions in the Sri Lankan context.

The key areas of focus in the discussion included the following, in line with the five action tracks of the UN Food Systems Summit:

• Ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all
• Shifting to sustainable consumption patterns
• Boosting nature-positive production
• Advancing equitable livelihoods
• Building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks, and stress

Proposed timeframe and structure

The event is scheduled for the 21st of September 2021 from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm IST. It will include a panel discussion followed by an open discussion with participants focusing on the key thematic areas of youth engagement in food systems, climate action, resilience, sustainable development, and sustainable consumption and production.

Organizer

SLYCAN Trust is a non-profit think tank. It has been a registered legal entity in the form of a trust since2016, and a guarantee limited company since 2019. The entities focus on the thematic areas of climate change, adaptation and resilience, sustainable development, environmental conservation and restoration, social justice, and animal welfare. SLYCAN Trust’s activities include legal and policy research, education and awareness creation, capacity building and training, and implementation of ground-level action.

SLYCAN Trust aims to facilitate and contribute to multi-stakeholder driven, inclusive and participatory actions for a sustainable and resilient future, focusing on the engagement of youth, education,
capacity-building, and skills development in all projects that are implemented at the national or international level. Its team consists of multi-disciplinary professionals who engage in activities on a project or cross-cutting basis.

For more information on the organisation and our work, please refer to our homepage
www.slycantrust.org or to our Adaptation & Resilience Knowledge Hub.