High school students work on solutions to feed the world in 2050

Of course, feeding the world and solving other global challenges ‘just like that’ is not possible. But thinking about it at a young age is. A total of 25 students have registered for the Global Challenge essay competition that WUR organizes every year together with the World Food Prize Foundation under the name Wageningen Youth Institute. Students choose a country and a subject and write an essay about it that is assessed by experts from the field. On April 4, they were allowed to pitch their essay to the experts.

The program started with the opportunity to walk in and get to know each other while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea. Once everyone had arrived, Ellen van Seben, project leader of the Wageningen Youth Institute, started with an introduction.

Jon Wogman, Director Global Youth Programs & Partnerships, was present on behalf of the World Food Prize Foundation. He talked about his work and the importance of students thinking about solutions for food security.
Countries and topics that the students have written about include Ethiopia and malnutrition. Costa Rica and sustainable agriculture. The Philippines and climate change and water scarcity in Zimbabwe.

After the introduction, the students part split into two groups for the round table discussions. The experts participating in the round table discussions are:

• Maaike Groot, daughter of Simon Groot, the only Dutch World Food Prize laureate and working for East-West Seed
• Hannah van Zanten, Chairholder Earth Systems and Global Change & full professor at WUR
• Judith de Vor, sustainable farmer from the Groene Hart and speaker at the International Borlaug Dialogue and at the Global Youth Institute last edition in Iowa.
• Cheng Liu Senior Researcher Food Safety at Wageningen Food Safety Research
• Thom van Stralen, working for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature as Policy Officer at the Policy Development and Strategy department.

During the round table discussions, the nerves rise. This is the moment. Each student pitches his essay, gets a question from a fellow student and an expert, after which it is the next student's turn. Then there are discussions about the problems and solutions that the students have provided. A serious and important moment because the student who performs best, gets to go to the Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, the US.

Fortunately, there is also laughter in both rooms, so after an hour of conversations, it is time to let go of the tension and everyone gets a tour around the Wageningen Campus to get to know Wageningen University. After the tour, everyone comes together again in the Impulse building where students, teachers, parents and experts have lunch and chat with each other.

At the end, the Borlaug certificates are awarded. A certificate on behalf of the World Food Prize Foundation signed by Thomas J. Vilsack, Chief executive officer of the World Food Prize Foundation and Sjoukje Heimovaara, President of the Executive Board of WUR.

After completing the roundtable discussions and receiving the certificates, the students are officially Borlaug Scholars (named after Dr. Borlaug, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) and can apply for a Borlaug-Ruan International Internship, a unique and professional experience by giving students the opportunity to work with world-renowned scientists and policymakers at leading research and development organizations around the world.

Interested in taking part in the Global Challenge yourself next year? As a student you can sign up for this, but teachers also have the opportunity to participate with the entire class. Contact us via the contact form at the top of this page.