Washington, D.C.: An undergraduate agricultural science student from Kathmandu, Nepal, won the international short video competition, “My Food, Our Future”, organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to mark the World Food Day on October 16.
Grace Tiwari (22), currently a final year undergraduate student at the Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal, was the runner up in the youth category (18-25 years) of the annual short video contest, winning the $250 prize. Tiwari, pursuing her education in agriculture science, submitted a two-minute video, titled, “Thrive for Change,” advocating setting up of a ‘Farmers’ Field School’ in rural areas to educate young Nepalese farmers in crop development, loss management practices and provide a platform for knowledge exchange.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., IFPRI organized its first annual short video contest, “My Food, Our Future”, to raise awareness and encourage youth to get involved in finding solutions to food security challenges in their neighborhood, community, and country. This year’s theme for the contest encouraged participants to offer ideas and solutions to help ensure the world has access to healthy, diverse, and affordable diets.
“The youth are a powerful resource for economic development and social progress. Young people hold tremendous energy and creativity to not only contribute to agriculture, but also in addressing the major challenges facing humanity – hunger, poverty, and climate change,” said IFPRI Director General, Shenggen Fan. “It is imperative for the current generation to help remove the barriers youth face in order to reach the full potential of our youth and our world. The video contest enables us to listen to and amplify the voices of youth across the globe,” added Fan.
Tiwari believes that zero hunger is possible and advocates sustainable consumption and production. “Being an agriculture student, I see it as my responsibility to work on a project to ensure none in this world are left hungry and starved,” said Tiwari.
Tiwari learnt about the contest from an online portal and decided to put her passion for ensuring food security into making a video. “The contest is a platform where youth like us are able to raise our voice to advocate for ensuring food security and reducing hunger, thereby, bringing possible practical solutions to the existing problem,” said Tiwari.
Her dream is to be a plant scientist one day. “I hope to learn more about the international governance and policy processes that guide agriculture as well as community-based management practices. I want to work towards developing a world with zero hunger where farmers, consumers and the environment, on which we farm, can prosper,” said Tiwari.
Other winners in this category include Mexico’s Frida Garza Mendiolea and team that won the top prize of $500; and Russia’s Nadya Putyakova bagged the second spot with the $250 prize. In the second category (10-17 years), Australia’s Hannah Yin and Hiya Shah won the top prize of $500; and the runners up include Russia’s Maria Ivanova Konstantinova and UAE’s Johan Sanju Sebastian, who won $250 prize each. Students from more than 19 countries and across five continents participated in the short video contest. The winning videos will be showcased at IFRPI’s website and social media channels.
To watch Grace Tiwari’s winning video, click here.
To watch all the winning videos, click here.
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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI was established in 1975 to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world, with particular emphasis on low-income countries and on the poorer groups in those countries Visit: www.ifpri.org