By Iminza Keboge
Published May 29, 2019
A United Nations agency has announced the launch of a global dance challenge as a clarion call for creating opportunities for youth in rural areas of some of the world’s poorest countries.
Through the #DanceforChange challenge that features MTV award-winning choreographer Sherrie Silver of Rwanda and recording artist Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade (Mr Eazi) of Nigeria, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN agency that focuses on agriculture and people in rural areas, is inviting young people to record a 15-second dance video in support of the initiative.
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The virtual dance petition, launched on the short-form mobile video platform, TikTok, appeals to world leaders to invest more in sustainable agriculture and young people as a means to end global poverty and hunger.
“We are dancing to capture the world’s attention and to share a message with young people everywhere: our generation can end global hunger, but only if our leaders invest more in agriculture and the next generation of young farmers,” Silver, who is best known for her choreography work in Childish Gambino’s Grammy Award-winning video, This Is America, says.
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Silver, who was born in Rwanda and educated in Britain, has choreographed a special dance move for the challenge and music video for the campaign featuring rural youth in Cameroon dancing to a song written by Mr Eazi.
“We want world leaders to know that young people in rural areas are a tremendous resource. They have the power to feed the world and transform food systems if given the opportunity to succeed,” she says.
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Mr Eazi, a singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur, recorded the song, Freedom, in support of the campaign and dance challenge with fellow artists J Derobie and Guiltybeatz. The song aims to show a positive depiction of agriculture and attract young people to farming.
“More investment in young people and farming means more food, more jobs and more freedom for us all,” Mr Eazi says in a recorded message on TikTok encouraging users to take part in the challenge.
IFAD says it will use results from the dance challenge in its advocacy efforts to remind world leaders of the need to increase investments in agriculture as well as long-term development and training for rural youth.
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