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Chantel Hoeve of the Ir Lely Lyceum in Amsterdam wins Wageningen Youth Institute 2020

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March 20, 2020

On March 19, the third edition of the Wageningen Youth Institute (WYI) took place. The WYI, which is part of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and the World Food Prize Foundation, challenges high school students to look for solutions to the global food issue. During their own research, 55 havo and vwo students gave their advice to experts on how we can feed the world in 2050. This advice was given through round table sessions, all of which took place online due to the corona virus.

Chantel Hoeve, 6 VWO student of the Ir Lely Lyceum in Amsterdam, is the winner of this year with her research on Saline agriculture. In her report, Chantel dives into the physiology of the plants, she was to understand the effects of salinization on the physiology of the plant on a fundamental level. Next to this, she has a great interest in the practical side. She wants to give opportunities to farmers to smartly respond to salinization: “The threat of salinization for crop production offers opportunities!”.

Every advice was graded by three experts. Toine Timmermans, food waste expert of WUR, considered her report as a “professional analysis”. Also Anne Hulshof, policy officer at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  was impressed by her report, which Chantel has done all by herself. Hulshof: “Chantel has a good understanding of how changes can be made, and she thinks of solutions as well as prevention.”  

Kimia Shoae Bargh, Jurre de Ruiter and Ruben Wartena of the Bonhoeffer College in Enschede are the runner up. They focused their research on improving the taste and foam quality of organic soy milk.

In October, Hoeve will travel  to the Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, United States with the Dutch delegation. In addition to attending the World Food Prize ceremony, she will present her advice to world leaders in science, industry and policy.

The Wageningen Youth Institute will take place again next year. Do you want to participate? Check out our website: www.wur.eu/youthinstitute

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