Tzu Chi Singapore holds youth webinar to discuss about food security
Should we be prepared for adversity in time of peace or is the danger already imminent? Tzu Chi Foundation of Taiwan, the Tzu Chi United Nations task force and Tzu Chi Singapore’s Humanistic Youth Centre had jointly organized a webinar to discuss topics related to climate emergency with the objective of raising the awareness of youths, providing a more comprehensive perspective to understand these issues and encouraging youths to take actions to mitigate the potential crisis. Besides having representatives from the United Nations Development Program, the webinar also touched on the issue of food security with a representative from Singaporean government agency, an Indian entrepreneur and an experienced Tzu Chi environmental protection volunteer. These panellists have shared their different perspective about the food security issues with nearly 200 audience online. This webinar was also organized in conjunction with the "Climate Action Week" by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR).
Young Indian entrepreneur, Nidhi: Dehydration is a process of removal of water and increasing the shelf life, so farmers can now process the produce and can also use for their own consumption
Young Indian entrepreneur, Nidhi shares how she provides farmers with sustainable methods to protect their produce from going to waste.
Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre of Singapore has collaborated with Tzu Chi Foundation in Taiwan and the Tzu Chi United Nation Task Force co-host a webinar that focuses on the topic of climate emergency, creating a platform for youths from different countries to interact with each other.
Tzu Chi Foundation CEO’s office personnel, Branda Ng: The Asian headquarter of the United Nations is in Bangkok, so we hope to prompt Tzu Chi branches around the region to learn more about global issues using the common language, which is English.
Lim Choon Choon, Manager of Tzu Chi HYC: When we talk about climate change and climate emergency, it not only impacts people of our generation but also future generations. We hope to be able to make a bigger change by involving youths.
You probably don't realise how much food you really eat, for example, every person in Singapore actually consumes about 43kg of rice per year.
Looking at the issue of food supply crisis from the current situation in Singapore and the world, panellists from different countries and institutions used their expertise and experience to give a clearer picture of the issue to close to 200 online attendees and encourage everyone to take action.
Goh Wee Hou, Director of Food Supplies Strategies Department, Singapore Food Agency: Going forward the global population growth is projected to increase global food demand by as much as 60% by 2050. On the other hand, climate change for instance is reduce crops used by 25% //and this will affect everybody, including youths
Kok Min Ai, Program Analyst, UNDP: Choosing more sustainable produce, choosing brands that support transparency, support sustainability, those are all some small ways that we can do something to help. It might not seem we can do a lot, but there are many small ways and small steps that we can to slowly nudge the needle.
The future of our world lies in the hands of the younger generation. Let’s start moving towards a more sustainable future with every little thing we do in our daily life.
