“I don’t just want to be inspired, I want to inspire, too!”
Willa Sakdiyah NGIN Ambassador 2022
“NGIN lives the spirit of UN SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals. Leveraging our diversity and co-creating with Youth, we will achieve more impact towards a prosperous and sustainable agriculture.”
Nele Herrmann Valente, NextGen Ag Leaders, Bayer
Youth Alliance for Zero Hunger
“Be your own light and act now for sustainable agriculture!”
“The youth represent the creativity and energy that is sorely needed to end hunger, poverty, and inequality. Their inclusion will ensure that the future is safe, and resources are utilized responsibly to ensure sustained food safety for years to come.”
Dickson Naftali, Head of Generation Africa, AGRA
“Youth, women, and people with disabilities should be at the center of the food systems transformations towards achieving the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.”
Divine Ntiokam, Founder and CEO, GCSAYN
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News

Photo Competition

Read more

Matchfunding Project in Colombia

We are launching our matchfunding project to support the economic empowerment of young rural female coffee farmers in the Caucaregion in Colombia, where communities still suffer from the consequences of armed conflict.

Read more

World Food Forum in Rome at the FAO

As an official partner of the World Food Forum, the global youth platform hosted by the FAO, NGIN had a booth in the main atrium hall of the Forum, we hosted our own NGIN Ambassadors official side event on making regenerative agriculture attractive for youth, and the NGIN Chair participated in a main stage panel discussion on private sector innovation to boost the agricultural transformation, for youth and with youth. One young participant of our engagement stated quite clearly: “If people say agriculture is not attractive, they should not be eating!”.

Read more

2022 NGIN Annual Report released!

Year 1 has been completed with numerous activities and lots and lots of Nextgen engagement! Read all about NGIN’s vision and mission, major milestones, and highlights as well as our governance, the Coalition, NGIN Ambassadors, communications, resources, and how to get in touch and stay tuned in our Annual Report 2022!

Read more

NGIN AMBASSADORS MANIFESTO 2022

The NGIN Ambassadors Manifesto was developed after the NGIN Flagship Program 2022 in Costa Rica and lays the groundwork for engagement for NGINeers. It is a product 100% youth-originated and youth-owned. Read it here.

Read more

Stay tuned !

NGIN is starting up!
Sign up with your email address to be the first to know about opportunities.

The NextGen Ag Impact Network[NGIN]

is the global network of networks for, with, and by NextGen Agricultural Leaders. Our aim is to empower youth in agriculture and related fields by including them right from the start:

Together, we will co-create a structure, programs, and a community to unlock resources and energy for transformational impact towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

NGIN is inclusive to all relevant sectors: farmers, business, academia, think tanks, NGOs, international organizations, politics, and – most importantly – the next generation of agricultural leaders.

NGIN gives young changemakers a voice, a vote, and a role in an ecosystem for impact.

17 Goals, 17 Partners, 1 Objective – NGIN empowers youth!

What’s an NGINeer???

NGINeer

[noun] | [en-jə-ˈnir]

a young person in agriculture dedicated to putting good agricultural and food systems knowledge to practical use towards the UN SDGs.

Comes up with big, hairy, audacious ideas to change the world on a regular basis. Typically, never gives up until a problem is solved and will insist on making agriculture attractive for future generations.

Our Vision

Young changemakers in agriculture become the agricultural leaders of the future who impact on the ecological, economic, and social transformation of food systems.

Our Mission

Together, we empower a purpose driven NextGen Ag Leadership movement with the ultimate goal of creating a more sustainable and prosperous future in agriculture.

NGIN Principles

NGIN Objectives

  • partnership-based to create stronger impact, together
  • for, with, and by NextGen Agricultural Leaders
  • global in scope
  • inclusive and diverse
  • based in science
  • united behind the UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • to co-create and establish a global network of networks for future-proof perspectives in agriculture
  • to match the needs of the next generation of agricultural leaders with program offerings, networks, and opportunities
  • to empower a purpose driven NextGen Ag Leadership movement to create a more sustainable & prosperous future in agriculture
  • to shape the future of sustainable agriculture, together!

How will we do it?

We bring together young changemakers and impactful actors from agriculture and food value chains and empower NextGen Ag Leadership through community building and networking, training and upskilling, mentoring, advocacy, speaking and job opportunities, entrepreneurial programs and more…

 

Please stay put and see below for our Stay tuned section!

NGIN Board

NGIN Partners

NGIN - Q & A

NGIN is the NextGen Ag Impact Network, the new, global, inclusive and intergenerational network of networks for, with, and by young people in agriculture and related fields. NGIN creates a community, programs, and opportunities to contribute to an impactful transformation of agricultural ecosystems towards sustainability, in line with the UN SDGs. Please watch our short video to find out more from the Coalition of Intent.

The Coalition of Intent is the founding partners’ coalition of 17 different organizations and individual contributors who believe in NGIN’s vision and mission, principles and objectives and have committed to co-creating this global new network of networks. The Coalition of Intent Partners work on equal terms with each other to develop and implement NGIN.

NGIN’s vision is for young changemakers in agriculture to become the agricultural leaders of the future who impact on the ecological, economic, and social transformation of food systems. Our mission is to empower a purpose driven NextGen Ag Leadership movement with the goal of creating a more sustainable and prosperous future in agriculture. We set out to achieve this by bringing together a global Coalition of diverse partners including young people from the start, by representing all relevant sectors and working together to co-create a network of networks and programs for impact.

We are committed to our guiding principles! NGIN is partnership-based; co-created for, with, and by NextGen Agricultural Leaders; NGIN is global in scope; inclusive and diverse; based in science; and united behind the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

NGIN sets out to co-create and establish a global network of networks for future-proof perspectives in agriculture. We match the needs of the next generation of agricultural leaders with program offerings, networks, and opportunities leveraged through the Coalition of Intent and their networks as well as future NGIN partners. NGIN empowers a purpose driven NextGen Ag Leadership movement with the goal of creating a more sustainable & prosperous future in agriculture. NGIN’s overall objective is to shape the future of sustainable agriculture, together, leveraging the values of partnerships, collaboration, and multi-stakeholder dialogue.



NGIN puts young people in agriculture and related fields in the driver’s seat and makes their voices count. Youth co-creates NGIN! Its programs and opportunities are co-designed by and for youth. NGIN’s focus lies on driving knowledge, skills, networks, and solutions towards sustainable agriculture. It allows for intergenerational and reciprocal learning, engaging, and steering. Youth movements are a prominent group in the early supporters’ Coalition of Intent!

To us, NextGen Agricultural Leaders are those engaged young people across the globe who are determined to contribute to more sustainable food systems. We believe that – in a first step – we can bring most benefit to young leaders of the approximate ages of 15 to 29.

At NGIN, we set out to empower the next generation of agricultural leaders through community building and networking opportunities, training and upskilling, mentorship offers, advocacy opportunities as well as opportunities in the incubation, entrepreneurial and job segments. NGIN has recently started the co-creation process so please stay put for upcoming opportunities!

NGIN and its partners will listen to the needs and demands of youth in agriculture and work on creating offers that match these needs. NGIN is co-created by a diverse group of actors and organizations, including Youth from the very beginning – please chip in with your ideas!

Are you a NextGen Ag Leader or do you want to become one? Then, let’s shape the future of sustainable agriculture together! You can take the first step today by joining our email list. We will keep you updated as we develop NGIN and launch our pilot program and activities. As we co-create NGIN we will always be looking for ways to include and engage as many fellow young people as possible. So, leave us a comment or your idea in our get in touch section.

We want to grow! Effective partnerships and collaborations are an essential part of NGIN! We work to actively contribute to giving life to SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). We welcome impactful organizations that are committed to agriculture and sustainable food systems and share NGIN’s vision and principles. Send us a message via our contact form if you are interested and please outline what you would like to bring to the table. We are excited to learn more about you and will get back to you as soon as possible.

 

The Coalition of Intent has started the NGIN co-creation process. Please sign up for updates on the development of NGIN in our stay tuned! section.

NGIN’s focus is on empowering young people in agriculture and related fields by leveraging the powers of co-creation and partnerships. NGIN recognizes that all SDGs are interrelated. However, a few SDGs stand out as primary focus: SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). But this is not all: NGIN also contributes to achieving all other SDGs. As stated in the Principles and Objectives, NGIN is inclusive and diverse and united behind the UN SDGs.

To stay tuned on the unfolding of NGIN or to get in touch, please go to the respective sections of the website. Thank you for your interest and we are looking forward to hearing from you!

Get in touch!

We are in this together! Got an idea, suggestion, or question?
Share it with us!

NGIN Photo Competition

In August-September 2022, we asked young people around the world to participate in our first NGIN Photo Competition. Hundreds of pictures were sent in to compete for prize money of up to 1000 Euros. A diverse and independ jury selected the top three winners by applying strict criteria to each of the submissions. The top three winning pictures were sent in by youngsters from Nepal, Ghana and Nigeria. And that was not all: At the World Food Forum 2022 in Rome, the three winning photos were exhibited in the Atrium of the FAO and the world was now invited to choose three additional prize winners from the top ten runner up submissions. That way, another three youth from Sri Lanka, Spain and Colombia received aa Community Award of 100 Euros each. And what happened to the exhibited photos of the top three awardees? They were handed over to leading managers of the FAO to keep inspiring their work on a daily basis.

NGIN Photo Competition Winner: 1st place

Below is the motivation and story behind this picture provided by the artist Bimal Koirala, Nepal:

“I am very passionate about photography, cinematography and graphic designing. What I feel is the best way to capture and document moments in life is through visual story. Photography is my favorite way to express myself. I love presenting my work to people. The photo submitted was captured during my vacation while traveling with my  brother-in-law in Palpa, Nepal, a lovely destination to visit for nature and culture enthusiasts. Being an agriculture student and sustainable agriculture enthusiast I went on the fields to capture the farmers. Every day, the food we eat connects us to a vast global web of farmers, traders, food manufacturers, retailers and many other people involved in getting food from farm to fork. Most of us probably don’t pause to think about it while biting into a piece of fruit or a slice of bread, but this global food system is central to some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. It’s the youth who can bring change to this system by imparting their efforts in the agricultural sector which is depicted in the photo submitted. That’s why I felt this photo can bring some energy to the youth around the globe towards our agriculture system. My goal and ultimate feeling of success is drawing other people into that moment as well.

NGIN Photo Competition Winner: 2nd place

NGIN Photo Competition Winner: 2nd place

Below is the amazing story to this picture provided by the artist Femi Adekoya, Nigeria:

 “I’m a young agricultural professional with a decade of experience in the field of agriculture. Over the years my passion for agriculture and desire to see rapid and sustainable development evolve in my rural community have moved me toward embracing and leading agricultural technologies. Thus, my motivation to submit this photo stems from my desire to use technological innovation to transform the African agricultural systems.

 This is a story to tell the world that young farmers in Nigeria and Africa at large are joyfully welcoming innovations, digital technology in particular, to make the Agri-food system more productive and sustainable. The photo shows how a young man is happily using drone technology to collect agricultural data and deliver valuable and actionable insights to farmers across different regions of Nigeria. We use drone technology to count cabbage plant head population for informed harvest planning and marketing. The farm location is in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria.”

NGIN Photo Competition Winner: 3rd place

NGIN Photo Competition Winner: 3rd place

This is the amazing story to this picture provided by the artist Mac-Beth Yakuba, Ghana:

“Felicia Mbanpon is a 25 year old girl, a graduate of Salaga senior high school. She was born into a farm family. However, all her life she has known agriculture as a source of food security for her household. During her school days, she engaged in some farm practices and enlightenment which gave her a different perspective about agriculture. She believes a new dawn has emerged where young women can cultivate small acreages , apply good farm practices like, planting in rows, dibble and burry fertilizer, weed their farms in time and have good yields. She also hopes to buy some maize yields from her colleague farmers, store and sell when the prices go up. She calls this a New dawn for young men and women like her in Kotoya community.  Felicia says the agricultural value chain is involving various sectors and every young person does not have to farm, but adding value to agricultural process and creating market linkages for farmers can bring income to the youth in agriculture.  These innovative mechanisms will contribute to a more sustainable future in agriculture for young African people.”

The three Community vote winners are the following: 

Sri Lanka, Yohan Fernando:

“The Research” titled photo is of an Agriculture undergraduate conducting experiment using plant samples for her research project. She is examining the sample replicates in the photo.”

NSpain, Paula Trakoštanec:

 My motivation for submitting the pictures [note of the editor: only the one showcased here was selected for the Community award] is to tell an inspiring story about a farm La Junquera that is making a change in the way of practicing agriculture. The farm can be considered a “lighthouse farm”, showing that regenerative practices are the future of food production.

The pictures were taken on two farms in the south of Spain called La Junquera and El Roble. In the southeast of Spain, there are serious problems with desertification due to climate change and the long history of conventional agricultural practices. The soils are degraded, aquifers are overexploited, and there is a significant biodiversity loss. Due to these reasons, managers of the farm La Junquera, Alfonso and Yanniek, decided to start with regenerative agriculture farming practices 10 years ago. Today, La Junquera focuses on achieving sustainable production while restoring farmland and natural areas by reducing erosion, improving fertility, increasing water infiltration, and creating conditions to increase biodiversity. Five years ago, they started with Regeneration Academy, which aims to train present and future generations in regenerative agriculture. They have designed different programs for doing research, entrepreneurship, ecosystem restoration, and sharing knowledge about regenerative agriculture techniques. I am here as a part of Regeneration Academy, together with five colleagues from the Netherlands, Croatia and Australia who are doing internship or thesis. In the first picture called Grape harvest, it can be seen that we are harvesting grapes on the farm, and the varieties are planted in a traditional Spanish way, without supporting poles.

The picture called “Vegetable garden making” is taken at El Roble, a former conventional farm that was bought this year by SLM (Sustainable Land Management) company. SLM gave farm management to Alfonso due to his knowledge and experience on La Junquera, to transform El Roble farm into a regenerative agriculture farm. In the picture, it can be seen our efforts to create a vegetable garden. So far, nothing had ever grown on this plot and the soil is full of stones and compacted. We managed to plow the soil, plant vegetables together with aromatics, and place irrigation, in hopes that by taking care of soil in the future, it will become productive and healthy and bring food for humans and animals in the area.

This is our story, and this is our effort to make this piece of the world a better place. Thank you for reading!“

 

Colombia, Sebastian Chavez:

“ Starting the day for a youth and his mother and their cows in Silvia, Cauca: It is 5:30 am in the morning and it is starting the day for John and his mother in the indigenous community of Silvia, Cauca, quite far from the city, in the middle of mountains and hit by the cold wind coming down from the paramo, every morning for 4 weeks John helped his mother in the farm work, especially with the milking of the cows. For John in his words, this activity is important, although he cannot do it much time, because he has been away for the last 5 months for his studies in the city and only had 4 weeks of vacation to help his mother on the farm, because of her advanced age some tasks are difficult for her, John knows this and told me before coming while we were studying in the city, always worried about how to help more on the farm even away from home.”

Matchfunding Project in Colombia

At NGIN, we see the passion and dedication of young people in agriculture on a daily basis. Youth are full of ideas and are often held back only by a lack of funding and technical support. 

👉🏾That is why we are launching our matchfunding project to support the economic empowerment of young rural female coffee farmers in the Caucaregion in Colombia, where communities still suffer from the consequences of armed conflict.

The Asociación de Mujeres y Jóvenes Cafeteras Fortaleza y Paz (Association of Women and Youth in Coffee Production – Strength and Peace) builds peace by investing into the future and by using the cohesive element of coffee ☕️ as a way to reconstruct and fortify communities. 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👩‍👧‍👧

Through financial support to develop adequate infrastructures as well as technical support and capacitation, we want to accompany these families in pursuit of their goal:

_”We want to have our own company where we export our coffee from producer to client without intermediaries, generating a better price for the coffee families, and together as a community move forward building peace.

We also want our organization to be strengthened associatively, that we can be an organization in the future that integrates new young women so that there are more opportunities in our rural communities.”_

This is your opportunity to join us and create real impact on the ground! You want to make agriculture more sustainable? Start with the people and the economics!

With your matching fund, you will help empower young rural women in Colombia in their sustainable coffee production and you will strengthen corporativism. 👩‍🌾 For the people, for the planet.

👉🏾👉🏼👉Please share your interest with me or with Mario González Azcárate of the Youth Alliance 4 Zero Hunger now! 

World Food Forum in Rome at the FAO

As an official partner of the World Food Forum, the global youth platform hosted by the FAO, NGIN had a booth in the main atrium hall of the Forum, we hosted our own NGIN Ambassadors official side event on making regenerative agriculture attractive for youth, and the NGIN Chair participated in a main stage panel discussion on private sector innovation to boost the agricultural transformation, for youth and with youth. One young participant of our engagement stated quite clearly: “If people say agriculture is not attractive, they should not be eating!”.

 

Our conversations in Rome were as varied as the people we met: we discussed regenerative agriculture, the importance of agri-food education in schools (think about the power of school gardens!), the importance of access to world markets or how we could piggyback on the climate movement as young people who set out to sustainably transforming the way we produce. One key take-away was that the world needs fresh, inspiring role models in agriculture. Is this where we, the NGIN Leaders, come in?

2022 Annual Report

NGIN AMBASSADORS MANIFESTO 2022

The NGIN Ambassadors Manifesto was developed after the NGIN Flagship Program 2022 in Costa Rica and lays the groundwork for engagement for NGINeers. It is a product 100% youth-originated and youth-owned. Read it here.

Co-creating Impact Opportunities with and for Youth in Agriculture.

 

Vision 

Young changemakers emerge as agricultural leaders and create impacts on the ecological, economic and social transformation of food systems. 

 

Mission

To empower a purpose-driven NextGen Ag Leadership movement with the ultimate goal of creating a more sustainable and prosperous future in agriculture to be able to feed our growing world population.

 

Background 

The NextGen Ag Impact Network [NGIN] is the global network of networks for, with, and by NextGen Agricultural Leaders that was launched in 2022. Our aim is to empower youth in agriculture and related fields by including them right from the start:

Together, we will co-create a structure, programs, and a community to unlock resources and energy for transformational impact towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

NGIN is inclusive to all relevant sectors: farmers, producers, businesses, academia, think tanks, NGOs, international organizations, politics, and – most importantly – the next generation of agricultural leaders.

NGIN gives young changemakers a voice, a vote, and a role in an ecosystem for impact. Currently, we have the participation of 23 NGIN Ambassadors from 14 different countries, representing 5 continents. And we are committed to amplifying voices through the NGIN platform, inspiring and developing our ideas and contributing and involving different stakeholders via impact alliances.

 

Our principles

-Partnership-based to create a stronger impact together.

-Co-led by NextGen Agricultural Leaders.

-Global in scope.

-Inclusive.

-Diverse in the variety of coalition partners participating and bringing in their perspectives, ideas, and expertise.

-NGIN follows science-based principles.

 

Objectives

-To co-create and establish a global network of networks for proof perspectives with youth in agriculture and institutional leaders.

-To match the needs of the next generation of agricultural leaders with program offerings, networks, and opportunities. 

-To empower a purpose-driven NextGen Ag Leadership movement with the goal of creating a

more sustainable and prosperous future in agriculture.

-Shape the future of sustainable agriculture together.

 

SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO ATTEND EMERGING PROBLEMS

 

People

The world needs young people who are aware of, informed, and involved in actions aimed to work towards sustainable agriculture and improved agri-food systems, to promote a transformation based on science to generate ecological, economic, and social prosperity. We will therefore invest our time and efforts in our fellow young people. This means concretely that:

 

  1. Better access to information should be promoted so that it becomes easier for producers to transforms production systems. We will participate in research, build partnerships, and make sure to share the knowledge we raise.
  2. We will support youth find meaningful opportunities in agriculture that will help them see a viable future for themselves in agriculture. This will include training and providing access to resources and technical support.
  3. We will seek to help youth that are especially marginalized, such as women, Indigenous communities, and vulnerable people that are threatened by impoverishment and food scarcity, and go above and beyond to empower them through providing meaningful information, the right platforms to speak out, and add them to networks for growth and support.
  4. We will assist young people to access quality education, skills, and relevant training related to the agricultural sector.
  5. Land must be accessible to youth and particularly rural women, to allow for full participation in agriculture and to enable greater autonomy, independence, and exercising of young people’s rights in agriculture. 

 

To achieve these 5 action points, we must spread our messages and share knowledge, build partnerships and strengthen network efforts to amplify our voices, share innovative solutions and highlight the value and attractiveness of sustainable agriculture and agri-food systems, as a sector for professional development.

 

Education

An educated youth that is aware of new international trends and innovations, that promotes the exchange of knowledge, and that has access to information and educational resources, is essential to lead and be part of decision-making processes. For this reason we consider that:

  1. Governments and relevant stakeholders around the world must be informed about the importance of providing curriculums that teach sustainable agriculture to young people so that future generations will consist of sustainable agricultural-aware people. We will advocate for such syllabi.2. Regenerative agriculture, its importance, and value and how from youth we can contribute to improve agricultural practices must be shared. We will promote actions related to informing and educating about these good agricultural practices.

 

  1. We need an enabling environment where youth can be exposed to various agricultural opportunities and financial investments to help them thrive in the agriculture industry. We will create this environment.



  1. To enhance the rate at which food systems transform at national levels, it is necessary to gain access to educational materials, capacitation programs, and comprehensive websites. We will liaise with ministries of agriculture and important stakeholders to deploy these knowledge resources.

 

  1. It is of paramount importance that farmers of all ages understand the correct application of synthetic agricultural products. We will work closely with relevant industry actors so that they can engage us in promoting the proper application of these products where necessary. 

To achieve the four action points, a wide array of networks and stakeholders must participate and create as much awareness surrounding agricultural education as possible. The current NGIN Coalition and their partners are our starting point and we hope for NGIN to grow. 

Leadership

Youth leadership is essential to promote the sustainability of agriculture. Young people must energize their peers to actively seek a future in sustainable agriculture. By becoming engaged, youth becomes the protagonists of their own development and future. By rising up, young people also rise up to eye-level with leaders of other generations thereby enabling a highly valuable intergenerational exchange. In addition, the empowerment of young women contributes to the generation of new leadership throughout food systems, encouraging them to become generators of change in their communities and regions. In this sense, we consider that:

 

  1. Youth must be enabled and empowered to participate in policy making to ensure that frameworks for the present and the future match the sustainability needs of people and planet. We will promote the empowerment and leadership of youth in agricultural fields by informing them about opportunities and the value of the sector for achieving the 2030 Agenda.
  2. Policies must be adapted and transformed, globally, regionally, and nationally, to include visions from and for young farmers and producers. We will contribute to negotiating these policies.



  1. NGIN should be encouraged to participate in regional and global governance processes to improve the development of positive solutions to the emerging needs related to the protection of the environment.

 

Commitment to Action

NGIN aspires to create an inclusive, diverse, and impactful environment to accelerate sustainable agriculture, through strengthening cooperation, building alliances, and empowering leadership that inspires the development of impact-oriented solutions in agriculture. 

We are committed to being the NGIN youth voice and to promoting the mobilization of next generation involvement in the agricultural sector through consistent, attentive, and innovative actions.

We are committed to building a lasting movement by working together, inspiring more young people around the world to share their knowledge and experiences and to contribute with their skills to promote the involvement of youth in different spaces and decision-making processes as well as encourage the inclusion of new generations. 

We are committed to building a group of young NGIN Ambassadors devoted to each of the actions included in this manifesto. 

We are committed to always seeking transparency and accountability in our role as NGIN Ambassadors.