Change Makers Union Copped UNDP Development Challenge

The Change Makers Union copped the 2024 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Development Challenge, showcasing the innovative thinking of Jamaica’s youth in addressing global development challenges.

The team’s winning initiative ‘STEM Agri Youth Jamaica (SAY-JA)’ is a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) agri-education-focused project, geared towards young people in vulnerable communities.

Stafford Brown and Diandra Spence from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus, Khygandhie Hall from the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) and Nicholas Lindo from University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) make up the Change Makers Union team.

Team leader, Stafford Brown, who is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in International Public and Development Management at the UWI, told JIS News that the main inspiration for this project came from the fluctuating food prices after the passage of Hurricane Beryl in July 2024.

“When we had Beryl… food prices fluctuated… [and] for the most part it was relatively high, and that’s because we had one ‘breadbasket’ parish,” Mr. Brown said.

He noted that the aim was to create tech-savvy young farmers by fostering innovation through STEM and encouraging sustainable farming practices.

This, he said, would result in more breadbasket parishes across the island, thus contributing to food security.

“What if we integrate this idea into poverty-stricken areas where youths are involved… it would be like going in there and introducing them to a whole different aspect of education through STEM and then encouraging them to do agriculture through STEM education,” Mr. Brown stated.

He pointed out that countries like South Korea, Chile and Italy have pursued STEM agriculture initiatives with positive results.

The SAY-JA has as its objective a targeted parish-level action plan to engage interested young people in poverty-stricken communities through smart-farming camps, agri boot camps and the installation of green tech labs to facilitate the integration of STEM and agriculture.

Resident Representative of the UNDP Multi Country Office in Jamaica, Dr. Kishan Khoday, congratulated the winning team.

He said the initiative was an innovational solution for addressing multidimensional poverty.

“The honourable Prime Minister declared Jamaica… a STEM island… which is at the core… [of] building that capacity from the get-go within the youth onwards as they join the workforce. This development solution did that in a way that had a strong human face to it,” said Dr. Khoday.

The UNDP challenge was scored on effective analysis of the problem, level of ambition of the vision, feasibility, level of innovation, potential impact of the project and presentation.

The competitors had to pitch a solution to end youth poverty, and the winning project combined Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan goals and the UN sustainable development goal #1, which is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere.

The Development Challenge has been a key component of the Ready Set Great (RSG) Conference since its inception in 2020.

The conference provides young people a platform to collaboratively address issues that impact them and develop potential solutions. Last year, the conference coincided with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The team won mobile devices and call credit from FLOW Jamaica, gift baskets from GraceKennedy Group and paid entry-level internships at the UNDP Regional Office in Jamaica.

They are expected to begin their internships this year.