Entrepreneurs, Creatives Compete to Build 'Global Talents Platform' in Saudi Arabia

Mawhiba logo.
Mawhiba logo.
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Entrepreneurs, Creatives Compete to Build 'Global Talents Platform' in Saudi Arabia

Mawhiba logo.
Mawhiba logo.

Around 100 talented young men and women, and entrepreneurs from 30 countries will gather in Jeddah to compete for building a global platform for talents. Launching from Saudi Arabia, the platform aims to grow a global community of creatives, and establish a future trend that inspires dreamers around the world.

Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), organizes the second edition of the Global Conference for Giftedness and Creativity 2022, on December 10.

It brings together the young and creative minds from around the world in a “Journey Toward the New Future.”

Mawhiba Secretary-General Amal Al-Hazzaa said that “the second edition of the conference aims to anticipate the future, profiting from the leading position of the Kingdom in human development and support of talented youth.”

The talented participants were selected from 30 countries around the world to work on forward-thinking solutions that address global challenges, improve people’s lives, inspire and empower the talented youth worldwide to shape a new future, and create a global platform to develop and manage expertise, talents.

The unique event brings together talented and creative youth from around the world to help build a platform that provides solutions for the challenges of sustainable development.

When built, this platform will serve as a pioneering model of collective thinking that empowers the young generation to build the new world.

Over 100 talented young men and women from around the world will partake in the conference. Some are still students, others have already got their degrees from the best 50 universities in the world. The talents will be overseen by experts specialized in creativity and technology, and will work in groups divided based on talents and specialties.

The conference hosts national and international inspiring speakers, CEOs, and pioneers from different sectors. It also features workshops, discussion panels, and talent shows that target policy and decision makers, entrepreneurs, and international experts.

The Global Conference for Giftedness and Creativity 2022 includes an “idea-thon,” aimed at developing a global platform that empowers talents from around the world to find solutions for the different challenges that face the communities of the future.

The to-be-developed platform aims to attract and develop talents, and produce sustainable innovative solutions to the future global challenges.

The Global Conference for Giftedness and Creativity, organized by Mawiba, was held for the first time in 2020 on the sidelines of the G20 Summit hosted by Riyadh at the time. Back then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques directed to hold the conference every two years to help create future horizons, emphasize the potentials of the talented youth in the face of global challenges, create efficient solutions, and expand the scope of the global cooperation through active partnerships to grow a human capital capable of facing the developments and challenges.



Food Grown with Fewer Chemicals? A Brazilian Scientist Wins $500,000 for Showing the Way 

This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr. Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)
This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr. Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)
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Food Grown with Fewer Chemicals? A Brazilian Scientist Wins $500,000 for Showing the Way 

This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr. Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)
This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr. Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)

A Brazilian scientist who pushed back against chemical fertilizers and researched biologically based approaches to more robust food production has been honored with this year’s World Food Prize, the organization announced Tuesday.

Microbiologist Mariangela Hungria's research helped her country become an agricultural powerhouse, an accomplishment that has now won her $500,000 from the Iowa-based World Food Prize Foundation. Hungria has been researching biological seed and soil treatments for 40 years and has worked with Brazilian farmers to implement her findings.

"I still cannot believe it. Everybody said, my whole life, it's improbable, you are going the wrong way, just go to things like chemicals and so on. And then, I received the most important prize in the world of agriculture," Hungria said in an interview. "Sometimes I still think I'll wake up and see that it's not true."

Norman Borlaug, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work to dramatically increase crop yields and reduce the threat of starvation in many countries, founded the World Food Prize. Since the first prize was handed out in 1987, 55 people have been honored.

Hungria said she grew up wanting to alleviate hunger. Early in her career, she decided to focus on a process called biological nitrogen fixation, in which soil bacteria could be used to promote plant growth. At that time, farmers in Brazil and around the world were reluctant to reduce their use of nitrogen fertilizers, which dramatically increase crop production but lead to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes waterways.

Hungria studied how bacteria can interact with plant roots to naturally produce nitrogen. She then demonstrated her work on test plots and began working directly with farmers to convince them that they wouldn't have to sacrifice high crop yields if they switched to a biological process.

The work is credited for increasing yields of several crops, including wheat, corn and beans, but it has been especially affective on soybeans. Brazil has since become the world's largest soybean producer, surpassing the United States and Argentina.

Although Hungria's research could be applied on farms in other countries, soybean production in the US is different than it is in Brazil; American farmers typically rotate crops on their land between growing corn and soybeans. Enough nitrate fertilizer applied to corn still remains in the soil when soybeans are planted that little or no fertilizer needs to be applied, Hungria said.

Brazilian agricultural companies have faced fierce criticism for clearing forested land to create farmland, largely to grow soybeans.

Much of that criticism is justified, Hungria said, but she added that her biological approach builds up the soil and makes further encroachment into forested areas less necessary.

"If you manage the crop well, the crop will enrich the soil with nitrogen. Soil health improves if you do the right things," she said.

Hungria will be awarded her prize at an annual October gathering in Des Moines, Iowa, of agricultural researchers and officials from around the world.

Gebisa Ejeta, chair of the World Food Prize Laureate Selection Committee, credited Hungria for her "extraordinary scientific achievements" that have transformed agriculture in South America.

"Her brilliant scientific work and her committed vision for advancing sustainable crop production to feed humanity with judicious use of chemical fertilizer inputs and biological amendments has gained her global recognition both at home and abroad," Ejeta said in a statement.