Event | 30 November 2021

This is an open call for the Solutions Search: Meaningful Youth Engagement in ADB's Greater Mekong Subregion Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Program (GMS SAFSP).

This contest is a solution-sharing platform for youth in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Through the form of a short video (2 minutes maximum) or an essay (500 words maximum), GMS youth are encouraged to showcase their current project/business/initiative that is relevant to any of the three main outputs of ADB’s GMS SAFSP:

1. Climate-friendly, inclusive, and gender-responsive agri-food value chains and agribusinesses (e.g., greening of agribusinesses and value chains, financing for micro, small, and medium-sized agribusinesses, supporting women and other vulnerable groups in agribusinesses, reducing carbon footprint, water consumption, food waste and loss of agri-food value chains and agribusinesses)
2. Crop and livestock safety, quality and traceability (e.g., using digital technologies for livestock identification and tracking, ensuring compliance with national/regional/international safety and quality assurance systems)
3. Climate-adaptive agriculture in the context of the water–energy–food security nexus (e.g., making agricultural systems resilient to climate change impacts, food producers considering water and energy efficiency in agricultural practices – doing more and better with less water and energy).

Further details of the program are available at: https://www.adb.org/projects/53391-001/main

The ten (10) best solutions will be offered:

• The opportunity to attend ADB training in the three topics above
• The opportunity to visit demonstration sites in GMS countries (with full travel expenses covered by ADB)
• Certificate of recognition from ADB
• Guidance to mobilize further funding for scaling up

Target participants

Who are eligible? 

• Anyone between the ages of 18-35 years (inclusive) 
• Any nationality is accepted but the applicant must be running a project/business related to the topics above in the GMS anywhere in Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan and Guangxi province, People’s Republic of China 
• The project/business must be in existence for at least three months by 30 November 2021 (the project/business can be any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively, profit or non-profit, at the community, district, province or national level)

How will the winning entries be selected?

The winning entries will be selected by a panel of judges on the basis of the following criteria:

• Alignment with the outputs stated above
• Practicality, creativity, clarity and originality
• Scale-up and replication potentials (e.g., the project/business has grown to a certain size, and is ready to use its proven success to expand and grow it significantly; or has the chance or possibility to be copied or used by others or elsewhere.)
• Economic empowerment and sustainability (e.g., applying practices that are environment-friendly and support long-term economic growth; providing people, usually disadvantaged, with the knowledge and skills they need to find a job, earn an income and make decisions that involve financial resources)
• Inclusion of women, youth and vulnerable communities

How to register

• Contestants must complete the registration form.
• Videos must use the English language or local language with English subtitles/translation.
• Essays must be in English and submitted in a PDF file (you can use different fonts, add colors or embed media—links, pictures or illustrations that are directly relevant to your essay to help your readers understand your point)
• Your uploaded file name should be: Your name_GMS Youth Agriculture Contest.

Event organizers / partners

• ADB Greater Mekong Subregion Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Program (ADB TA 9916)
• ADB Youth for Asia

If you have any questions or encounter tech issues with the application, email us at gmssafsp@adb.org(link sends e-mail) or youthforasia@adb.org(link sends e-mail).

This was originally posted on the ADB website.