Dr Jewel H. Bronaugh

Bronaugh, who is passionate about the advancement of youth leadership in agriculture, will be discussing the key role of youth in agriculture amid work to transform agriculture, forests and land management in the face of multiple global challenges. She also has a deep interest in food security: in autumn 2020, Bronaugh helped to establish the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund and Program in the U.S. state of Virginia, the first statewide program of its kind to address food access within historically marginalized communities. Empowering communities with decision-making skills is an important theme of this digital conference, which will examine recent research on food systems in the context of working with nature and people. That approach is a key success factor to sustainably manage land and transform food systems. Transformation of agriculture is also vital, given that it is a major driver of climate change while at the same time farmers struggle to adapt to its impacts. Integrated ecological, economic and social principles can help smallholder farming systems move towards greater resilience through diversification, recycling, and improving connections between producers and consumers. But adaption must be driven locally, with solutions led by local conditions and not imposed from outside.