In the process of leaving hosting at FAO, it was clear that we needed to blaze a trail of clear growth for YPARD. A trail that promoted the stability of the organization so that we could serve our members unincumbered by administrative threats; one where we could assert ourselves as the most progressive global organization working by and for young agrifood systems professionals. Nearly four years later, we were successful in many ways. YPARD has diversified our funding base and solidified our independent administrative capacities, all the while growing our membership during a window of the most keen international interest in youth inclusion in food systems we’ve seen in the last 15 years. One might say there might not have been a better time to have been handed such a difficult task.
We were successful in registering a non-profit association in Berlin, Germany, allowing YPARD, now YPARD e.V. (e.V. is the German abbreviation for “registered association”) to finally sign contracts– for hosting, but also for projects and staff. This was a huge step for YPARD in diversifying our income by becoming a credible partner. We opened up the ability to bring additional contractual partners in for projects which support the hard work of our members more directly.
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It’s been a long road, but we’re finally serving members with direct projects in Uganda, Madagascar, Ecuador, and Costa Rica (GP-SAEP), and will soon start a project to support Agroecology networks in Southern Africa (RAENs). In addition, we’re a partner on the regional project CEA-FIRST, through which we are setting the standard for youth engagement in agrifood systems research and innovation with 21 other consortium partners. We’re also partnering more closely than ever with EIT Food for projects in Europe to promote youth-led change (Menu for Change Challenge) in addition to international cooperation on advocacy.
One might say this could also be the worst time to be in international development cooperation. Donor governments in many countries, especially Europe and North America, are drastically cutting development cooperation budgets. Wars and the necessary military standing readiness in the name of prevention are the focus of democracies, autocracies and oligarchies alike. We’re at a moment when the development community must be loud about our role in preventing and mitigating the effects of environmental and man-made disasters.
Nonetheless, it feels that YPARD’s momentum is growing. We’re participating in more grant consortia, have expanded our advocacy to all three Rio Conventions, and continue to represent agricultural professionals in even more fora. YPARD was selected to serve as the Co-Chair of the Global Donor Platform on Rural Development (GDPRD) Rural Youth Employment Working Group, represent youth on the FANRPAN board, become a member of the IRC Steering Committee, the Advisory Committee of the Decent Work in Food Systems Coalition, and serve as the Co-Focal Point for the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) SDG2. We remain active in representing youth in the Steering Committees of GFAiR, TAP, GFRAS, and EFARD, and we hosted our first in-person YPARD Steering Committee and Staff meeting in Berlin.
So where do we go from here? We need to articulate our added value even more clearly.
Youth in food systems is becoming a crowded space. YPARD clearly stands out as the only youth-led organization for young agricultural professionals that can implement projects and operate independently of parent organizations and international agencies, all the while offering our members with leadership opportunities and a strong voice through solid partnerships and mandates. We have strong thematic focuses: committing to agroecology, sustainable and healthy diets, green jobs and livelihoods, and access to resources. In short, we are a people- and planet-centered network.
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We want to further grow at the country-level by linking impactful Community Solutions Projects with resources to help them thrive. At the same time, we are committed to offering top-quality, accredited training programs from international agencies and universities, all while keeping livelihoods front and center. Most of us still struggle to find stable, sufficient incomes from decent work. To get this done, we need to harmonize our communications and country-level structures further. We have already made huge strides in communications by revamping our website, newsletter, the YPARD Policy Working Group, and a 2024 Country Representative recruitment. Now, further local adaptation of these communication channels is key to ensure that more effort can be spent on networking, capacity building, and advocacy.
In advocacy, we need stronger connections at two levels: locally, and between international fora. As Co-Focal Point of MGCY SDG2, we are well-positioned to connect work on the Rio Conventions. We can use this mandate to connect the youth constituencies of the three Rio Conventions and the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), ensuring that our diverse youth voice is strengthened by coherence between international fora. The 2025 UNFCCC COP30 in Belem is an excellent policy window for such work. By then, we’ll have left the year of the three Rio Conventions behind us: exhausted, but also more angry than ever at a lack of change. It’s time to double-down on our efforts, harmonizing youth voices across the Conventions and driving action at the national and local levels with a clear strategy. We are confident that with cooperation from our partners, we can make this ambitious work happen.
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YPARD’s mandate is still as relevant as it was 17 years ago when it was founded. Young agrifood systems professionals still need strong networks to advance our leadership and vision for eliminating poverty and hunger. We’ve made progress: young people are included more than ever before in international dialogues, and calls for funding are beginning to position youth as protagonists and not just beneficiaries. YPARD is connecting and training young leaders who believe in people and planet-centered agrifood systems more strongly than ever before. However, as a global community, we still have grave concerns about youth un- and underemployment, poverty, and hunger the world over.
The wake-up call? None of us remain young forever. This urgency strongly motivates us to work swiftly on our goals. But it's also a reminder that all leaders in YPARD need to ensure each one of us will be replaceable at some point. This means transparency in our leadership, and decision-making and mentorship of younger YPARDians. It is our network, the connections between individuals, which make us strong. We are only as strong as a spider's web. We commit to being a thread in that web. We know that our time as a youth is limited. Thus, this approach has to grow in the future in order to keep a sustainable network.
We won’t be able to take on all these challenges at once. This year, we’ll draft a complete strategy based on the results of the External Review, member consultations, and surveys to put our collective ideas into the next mid-term and long-term plan. As usual, we will submit many funding applications.
Until then, for those of you who celebrate the new year or holidays in the coming weeks: we wish you a joyous season. This is the season in which we celebrate and take time to recharge and reflect. It’s an important part of our work, as this work is a life’s work.
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