Cultivating circular futures: Youth as agents of change

ON 29 September, the world marks the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste, highlighting one of humanity’s pressing paradoxes.

- By Vimlendra Sharan

Empowering young people to lead in circular food systems generates ripple effects across communities, policies, and markets.

As the global population nears 8.5 billion by 2030, we still waste 1.3 billion tonnes of food annually — enough to feed three billion people. Sri Lanka is no exception. This crisis calls for urgent action, and increasingly, young people are emerging as catalysts for change.

The traditional “take-make-use-discard” model has proved unsustainable. A shift toward circular approaches — refuse, regenerate, reuse, and redesign — is gaining global momentum. At the heart of this transformation lies a simple truth: when young people embrace circular principles, they can reshape communities and inspire wider system change.