 Good morning. Allow me to take you on a journey. Imagine with me, yourself as a young person who is vibrant, energetic, filled with hopes and dreams, dreams of a better future, a future filled with all the things that you could do. All the dreams around how you could earn a living, support a family, own your own property, own a house, drive the most amazing car you could imagine. Imagine with me, now that as this young person who is vibrant and filled with all these hopes, coming to this place, this sad, sad place of realization, where things are not what they could be, because your dreams will just be that, dreams. Because in the world that you live in, there are no jobs, there are no opportunities for employment. And when there are opportunities, you are told you are too young to be employed, you are too under qualified to be employed, and at times too over qualified. Imagine with me, the frustration of being this young person. Imagine with me, knowing that your life will forever be characterized with challenges associated with poverty, in an era of changing climate and growing population. Finally, imagine with me, that in the midst of this helplessness and despair, there is a glimmer of hope. And part of this hope, we are told, lies in the not so sexy backbone of society, that is agriculture. Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow young people, this hope, this glimmer of hope is tainted. It's tainted with this image and portrayal of hard work, with the reality that this hope that is tainted with hard work and poverty and lack of implements, this hope that is agriculture will never fully give you what you want it to give you. And it marks the reality that agriculture policies and development seem to happen without the engagement of youth. So as a young person, you will never get in. This is the hope that we have. And this is the reality that we face as young people, the reality that we live in. In Africa, where more than 60 percent of the population are young people under the age of 35 and make up more than 65 percent of the unemployed, agriculture is often cited as one of the key sectors that could create employment for this demographic. Young people have the potential to significantly contribute to the development of the agriculture sector and to development in general from the field to household and policy level. However, prevailing trends in development and the agriculture sector do not optimize the meaningful engagement of youth. You will agree with me that such a high demographic filled with potential warrants some form of engagement in policy processes that affect them and therefore will ultimately lead and shape their future. In the past few years, the organization that I come from, FANAPAN, has been implementing a full-on campaign to support and advocate for youth engagement in agriculture policies and processes. This campaign has shown great gains. Allow me to share with you how this organization that I come from has approached this issue. As a network organization, FANAPAN grounds its initiative in local evidence that is generated with local partnerships and stakeholders. By documenting the involvement of youth, the involvement of young people in agriculture processes and policies through country case studies, FANAPAN has been able to highlight the challenges and the opportunities for engaging young people in development processes as well as agriculture. FANAPAN strives to try and change the perception of young people towards agriculture. FANAPAN would like to see young people see themselves not only as consumers of agricultural products but as producers, employers, entrepreneurs and drivers of growth and development in the agriculture sector. In order for this to happen, a lot of things need to change. One of these things that need to change is the capacity of young people. There is need for great capacity development. Capacity development will enable young people to engage in processes of... Capacity development will enable young people to engage in policy processes and contribute to policy processes. FANAPAN feels that capacity development needs to go beyond supporting young people with scholarships to attend top-notch universities but rather should go beyond formal education and seek to empower young people in a holistic manner so that then they can engage with policy processes that are not necessarily taught within the classroom setup. FANAPAN believes in mentorship and has been instrumental in the creation of a young professionals network around water issues within the agriculture sector. This water network of young professionals has since evolved to a broader and larger network of young professionals working in Africa and it's creating linkages to other organizations such as WIPAD that is helping organize the session. And engaging in policy processes, FANAPAN believes that youth, young people are the best place to speak for themselves. They know best their challenges, they know best what they want in life. FANAPAN believes in young people also working hard for what it is that they want and therefore FANAPAN creates platforms to encourage policy dialogue around agriculture issues through its multistakeholder platforms and dialogue engagements. FANAPAN has supported the participation of young people in policy processes and also dialogue processes. FANAPAN has created an alliance of advocates of young people who are capacitated to engage with policy makers and decision makers on key policy issues that affect them within their countries and you can see here a brainstorming session of young people trying to decide and dialogue on issues that affect them and chart a way forward. If young people in Africa are to have a hope of fully participating in policy processes, African leaders need to institutionalize youth involvement in policy processes in a manner that is responsive to the needs of young men and women bearing in mind their different demands. FANAPAN feels that peace, meal and haphazard engagement of young people is not enough, more needs to be done. In concluding, I would like to urge you as we go through this global landscapes forum and as we discuss the win-win approaches such as climate smart agriculture and the future of sustainable landscapes, I urge you all to remember that nothing should be done for young people without young people and I urge you all to ensure that as you plan for whatever work you will be engaging in, think of the ways that you can build support, build capacity and create opportunities for young people to engage in policy processes.