A UNIVERSITY student and former Girl Guide has been selected to represent Britain at a global agriculture summit in Brussels.

Luca Steel from Oldcroft, who is studying Biology at Bath University, will be one of 100 delegates from 49 nations discussing ‘Feeding a Hungry Planet’ at the five-day Youth Ag-Summit in October.

Participants will share their diverse experiences and work together to generate innovative, sustainable and actionable solutions to global food security challenges.

Luca said: “I’m keen to get involved in the challenge of making food supplies secure and sustainable because it allows me to take something I’m passionate about – the study of plant diseases – and use it to make real change in the world.”

In her essay applying for a place at the conference for 18 to 25-year-olds, she proposed a Girlguiding badge in food security.

“As a Guide leader, I noticed how well the girls respond to challenges set while they work towards a badge,” she said. “I want to capture this engagement and channel it towards improving consumer tastes and food waste reduction.

“With nearly half a million Girlguiding members in the UK, I hope by making this challenge hands-on, it will inspire young people to make sustainable choices as consumers and encourage others to do the same.

“Young people must be included in discussions about food security, so change can be continued into the long-term. The more informed future generations of policy-makers are the better.”

She also wants to create an app for consumers to trace the sustainability of food items within a supermarket and has pledged to contribute directly to solving the problem of food shortages by working in crop protection research.

Organised by Bayer Crop Science in partnership with Belgian youth organisations Groene King and Federation des Jeunes Agriculteurs, this year’s summit aims to address the UN sustainability goals of ending hunger, achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Its mission is to come up with new ideas which can drive agricultural progress across the globe and be put into practice at home.

Liam Condon, Bayer Crop Science Division chief, said: “The Youth Ag-Summit aims to give young leaders the opportunity to foster their ideas, share best practices and explore the role of modern agriculture in feeding a hungry planet.”

Luca is one of four young leaders from the UK and Ireland chosen to attend the summit from October 9-13.

“I’m looking forward to hearing new ideas and drawing on everybody’s different experiences to refine my own,” she added.