Donors today see the power of youth and their potential to bring things forward, but we’re only at step one.

Sustainable development is great, but the ability to mobilize finance at scale into these communities is key.

Shocks to the global food system are making it difficult for the most vulnerable communities to access sufficient affordable and nutritious food.

For as long as rural livelihoods are associated with drudgery and inadequate movement towards mechanization, we will be losing our young people into urban settings.

Never underestimate the power of leadership. When leaders speak, people listen.

We are in the foothills of a really long, complex, challenging journey. We … need to support countries in unlocking their (national food) pathways. We don’t have 20 years for us to spend getting food systems transformation right.

The AGA is about giving members and partners a safe space to discuss how to shape coordinated and harmonized donor approaches to better serve rural people in the path to development and make our interventions more effective and impactful.

Impact … is not felt at the level of beautiful documents that are shared, but in how you move the needle and shift the reality of the lives of rural people and all of the people in the food systems.

We must work to build more effective multilateralism, including via platforms such as the GDPRD – but this … needs commitment at the highest levels within our own organizations.

The group has proved its value by providing space and opportunities for different actors in rural youth to share their views, methodologies, results and lessons learned. This strengthens partnerships and coordination among the group’s members.