The Ban Ki-moon Centre is proud to announce the successful completion of the 2024 Youth “Youth AgriChampions – make young African farmers be heard” program. This milestone marks the culmination of months of dedication, collaboration, and several impactful discussions between our inspiring young changemakers. Already in its third edition, this initiative brings together youth grassroot voices from the world of smallholder farming and agricultural entrepreneurship in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia, to share their on-the-ground experience with adapting their practices to climate change.
This year’s Youth AgriChampions cohort included twenty smallholder farmers and agri-preneurs and focused on the theme of “Locally-led Adaptation for Smallholder Farmers” to enhance climate resilience in their communities.
The program kicked off on July 10, 2024, with our first workshop, where our AgriChampions gathered together for the first time to connect with other likeminded future leaders and discuss pressing challenges facing agricultural adaptation. Elisabeth Nsimadala, the President of the East Africa Farmers Federation and Director of Women Affairs at the Pan-African Farmers Organisation, also delivered an inspiring expert talk, sharing her personal story of leadership in agricultural adaptation.
On July 17, 2024, our AgriChampions came together with the BKMC team for our second workshop, featuring our second expert talk by Simon Thuo, Water and Environment consultant to the World Bank. In this workshop, the discussions centred on brainstorming potential solutions to the previously identified challenges facing agricultural adaptation, sharing innovative and crucial points to improve climate resilience for smallholder farmers.
On August 5, 2024, we celebrated the Closing Ceremony of the program, where BKMC’s CEO, Monika Froehler, congratulated our young AgriChampions for their hard work and dedication. Former Secretary General and BKMC Co-chair, Ban Ki-moon, also extended his congratulations to the Youth AgriChampions, stating, “Your efforts are crucial in combating climate change, enhancing food security, and securing a better future for your communities and the planet.” He also affirmed that “the Ban Ki-moon Centre and I will advocate for your needs whenever possible,” encouraging them to continue collaborating to address the key challenges of our time.
In our Closing Ceremony, this year’s AgriChampions also presented their demands to improve agricultural adaptation. These demands became the basis of this year’s Demand Paper focusing on locally-led adaptation for smallholder farmers.
On September 2, 2024, Brian Kithinji, a 2024 AgriChampion, presented the demand paper for the first time to an international audience at BKMC’s side event at the African Food System Forum in Kigali. This marked the official launch of this year’s demand paper, garnering significant attention from world leaders and experts in the field and serving Ban Ki-moon and the BKMC team in their advocacy efforts towards agricultural adaptation.
