World Food Forum 2025
Chaiyanat (Win) Kuptivej, Year 12
From the 13th to the 17th October 2025, I attended the World Food Forum 2025 in Rome, Italy, hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
Preparation for this event began months prior. In June, after the applications to attend the WFF were declared open, I sent my own in. I had to include past experiences, which included my developments in the Future of Good Life project and the RiceSense device. Afterwards, I was interviewed with the Ministry and they selected me as a youth delegate for Thailand.
During the World Food Forum, I met with other youth delegates from all over the world ranging from ages 18 to 35. They were all chosen for a common reason: they are innovators of agri-tech and nutrition to move our planet towards greater food security, greener production and much more.
I took part in a variety of workshops and youth assemblies, discussing topics such as nutrition, sustainable farming and food inequality. The highlight for me was the “Youth for Food Security” roundtable discussion, which focused on promoting food literacy in the Asia-Pacific region. I was honoured to speak on behalf of Southeast Asia in this discussion, where I discussed the topics of ultra-processed foods and how these healthier alternatives were simply unaffordable or inaccessible for much of the region, contributing to ongoing nutritional deficits compared to other parts of the world.
I heard many inspiring talks, including a particularly inspiring one from Mr. Kazuki Kitaoka, Director of the Office of Youth and Women. In particular, Mr. Kitaoka emphasised that the following elements were key to achieving success with the Youth of the WFF:
- Engagement: bringing youth to the forefront of direct interaction with communities
- Empowerment: Providing opportunities for young people to contribute and develop key skills
- Agency: Enabling youth to make change, whether large or small
All in all, it was an event that left an incredible impact on me, reminding me that youth aren’t just the future: they are the present. We are here to bring new ideas, fresh energy, and our undeniable passion to the table. As emphasised repeatedly throughout the event, we, the youth, can’t just sit around and talk; we must act if we want to make a difference. The youth aren’t just participants; we are the leaders who will propel our world toward a better future. I return home ever more committed to advocating for sustainable development through my low-carbon rice project “Future of Good Life”, and I can’t wait to bring all the innovative ideas I got from the World Food Forum into action.
And, to conclude, as quoted from Mr. Kitaoka, “creating specific structures for young people, with young people, led by young people, can drive the transformation forward that we really want to see.”