At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, SEARCA through its banner youth engagement initiative, Young Forces for Agricultural Innovation (#Y4AGRI), launched the 2020 Youth COVIDEO Contest to showcase young people's local food production practices at home, in school, or in the community. The pioneering activity reflected youth actions to grow food to sustain the basic food needs of their family and community, augment their livelihoods, and to manage anxiety brought by the global health crisis.

For its second installment, the 2021 Youth COVIDEO Contest focuses on sustainable food consumption and food waste management stories and advocacies of young individuals in Southeast Asia in relation to the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) that calls for global actions to transform food systems, including how food is produced, consumed, and disposed. Within the context of the prevailing pandemic, the Youth COVIDeo Contest aims to gather youth solutions and actions on sustainable food consumption and food waste management, and how it is linked to a sustainable agri-food system. It offers an opportunity for Southeast Asian youth to share their stories and advocacies in an informative and creative video that highlights young people's role in transforming the agri-food system.