The initiative is promoted by IICA; Bayer; Cenfotec, Creativa de Costa Rica and Zamorano universities; the Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (AEI) of Ecuador; the Latin American Organization of Young Agro-entrepreneurs (OLAJ); I4NATURE and 4-H Clubs. The winning proposal will be announced on November 8
San Jose, 30 September, 2021 (IICA) -- At the invitation of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), young technology students and professionals will develop proposals to create a virtual tool to connect the hemispheric Rural Youth Community of the Americas.
The initiatives will be developed during the 2021 Rural Youth Hackathon, currently underway with 51 participants from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru, divided into eight teams.
The finalists will be announced on October 20. Five days later, the groups will present their proposals for the creation of the virtual tool to a specialized jury.
The Rural Youth Community of the Americas is a digital initiative promoted by IICA with the support of Bayer; Cenfotec, Creativa de Costa Rica and Zamorano universities; the Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (AEI) of Ecuador; the Latin American Organization of Young Agro-entrepreneurs (OLAJ); I4NATURE and 4-H Clubs. The initiative seeks to provide rural youth with a platform that fosters coordination, the sharing of knowledge and experiences, capacity building and leadership.
Lloyd Day, Deputy Director General of IICA, remarked that youth in the Americas are a key sector for the transformation of agrifood systems and agriculture in the aftermath of the pandemic.
“Youth are a large generation, because of their size as well as their capacity to facilitate changes by working together to obtain the opportunities they deserve”, stated Day.
The proposals developed by the eight teams will be evaluated based on various criteria, such as the feasibility of implementing the tool; its user interface, security, administration, ease of browsing and features; and whether it is equitable, inclusive, innovative and creative.
Throughout the process, participants will receive mentoring and technical support. The winning group will receive USD 4,000 and the second and third-place winners will receive a full scholarship and a half scholarship, respectively, for courses at Universidad Creativa. The winning proposal will be announced on November 8.
“Through the hackathon, our goal is to provide rural youth with a platform for their coordination, empowerment, participation and full development, to ensure that their voices are heard as well as to expand their impact”, stated Federico Villarreal, Director of Technical Cooperation at IICA.
The hemispheric Rural Youth Community of the Americas is important in order to overcome the harsh reality and major challenges facing youth, as well as to eliminate barriers in the access to education, technology, employment, production resources, land tenure and health services, among others, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
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