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The Food Chain Global Youth Champion 2022: Samuel Ikua

We are pleased to announce that this year’s winner is Samuel Ikua, in Nairobi, Kenya.

Samuel Ikua (Credit: Timothy Ivusah)

Samuel teaches local people the skills and knowledge they need to start urban farming projects where they live, in order to provide income and food security. Having undertaken an urban farming course in 2015 with non-profit organisation the Mazingira Institute, he now works for the Institute providing training to others. Samuel encourages communities to collect food waste and use this to feed livestock and create compost for vegetable plots. Other projects include the production of goat milk and yoghurt that people can sell. In his spare time, Samuel enjoys ballroom and salsa dancing.

The winner of the award was announced at the 麻豆社 Food and Farming Awards in Cardiff on the 9th November 2022. Listen to a special episode of The Food Chain featuring Samuel’s work, which will be broadcast on Thursday 24th November 2022.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AWARD

The Food Chain’s search for a Global Food Champion returned in 2022 for its fifth year. This year, we invited entries from people aged between 18 and 30 who are trying to change the way we deal with our food, from its production to its presentation and consumption, in order to have a lasting effect on our relationship with food.

Entries opened on 14th July and closed at 23:00 GMT on 18th August 2022.

The Global Youth Champion Award is hosted by 麻豆社 Radio 4’s Food and Farming Awards, a UK-based competition. It is the only international category, and open to people living anywhere in the world.

You can find details of our previous winners further down this page.

How does it work?

Entries have now closed.

Please read our award rules. *Terms updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension

Please also see our privacy notice.

For any queries, please contact thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Lord Bilimoria: Head judge

Karan Bilimoria is an Indian British entrepreneur, the chairman and co-founder of Cobra Beer. He is an independent crossbench peer in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, chancellor of the University of Birmingham, and vice-president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Lord Bilimoria served as CBI President from June 2020 until June 2022. He is founding chairman of the UK-India Business Council and was a founding member of the Prime Minister of India鈥檚 Global Advisory Council. In September 2020, he was appointed a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford, based at the Centre for Corporate Reputation. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from several UK universities.

Professor Monique Simmonds: Judge

Professor Monique Simmonds OBE is the Deputy Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the United Kingdom. She has over 30 years experience of research into different uses for plants and fungi. She supports the Kew Millenium Seed Bank Partnership, the world鈥檚 largest seed conservation project. Monique set up the Commercial Innovation Unit at Kew Gardens that focuses on increasing the diversity of plants and fungi used in industry. Her current research focuses on economic uses of plants and fungi in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food supplements.

Anto Cocagne: Judge

Anto Cocagne is a Gabonese chef. Working in Paris, France, she produces African cuisine with a French touch. In 2022, she published the English version of her first cookbook Saka Saka: Adventures in African Cooking South of the Sahara. She hosts a TV programme about food for the Canal+ African Channel and France5 TV and is President of a food festival called We Eat Africa.

Sandor Katz: Judge

Sandor Katz is a teacher, writer and fermentation revivalist. He is the author of five books about fermentation and has delivered hundreds of workshops around the world, which have helped propel the mysterious art of ferment experimentation into the mainstream. A self-taught experimentalist who lives in rural Tennessee, he has been described by The New York Times as 鈥渙ne of the unlikely rock stars of the American food scene.鈥� Sandor is the recipient of a James Beard award and other honours. (Image credit: Jessica Tezak)