The afternoon was hosted by the organization's official banking partner Nedbank. Representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Moletale Mamadi and Director Moletale Mamadi along with Dr Naude Malan a lecturer of UJ and coordinator of the Izindaba Zokudla programme, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among others were present.

Moleshane Mamaile is the resource conservation officer in land use and soil management at the Department of Agriculture. Mamaile told the learners about the JuniorLandCare programme. This initiative gets schools to execute their own vegetable gardens to grow food that compliments the feeding scheme of the school. The director of subsistence farming Moletale Mamadi encouraged the learners to consider the process of creating greener cities through agriculture. “Food security is when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy live,” he said.

Lecturer Dr Malan challenged the learners’ day-to-day habits and the way in which they engage, support and purchase their food. He said; “We need critical knowledge in order to develop alternative methods in agriculture. It’s up to the small local farmers to provide local communities with food and it’s up to local communities to support. If you grow your own food as a country you become independent, we depend on other countries and it’s that interdependence that takes away our freedom.”

“Discussing food security at the Dialogue Day in partnership with Nedbank is the first step in getting the youth geared up for the Summit in October and for COP 21 Paris in December,” said founder Ella Bella and United Nations Youth Ambassador and mentor for (UNEP). “We do not believe in the top- down approach but rather in a learning space that is created for the learners to question and challenge the status quo of traditional business, production and manufacturing processes.”

At the end of the afternoon the GE steering committee was chosen. This committee is representative of each school present at the dialogue day that will continue the conversation and prepare for the Summit happening in October.

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