We are delighted to welcome Yashpal S. Saharawat as YPARD India representative. Yash is an Agronomist by profession, involved in promoting agriculture among the youth and in making agriculture a field of entrepreneurship opportunities beyond a mean of livelihood, especially in the developing country. Youth contributing almost 65% of total population in world’s second largest populated country is often debated as... More

Young people are called to contribute to the upcoming 10th CAADP Partnership Platform through the Non State Actors platform. CAADP stand for Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.  FANRPAN invites you(th) to give your input into the recommendations they will present to the Africa Agriculture Ministers. Get a voice; Take action! Learn more through Sithembile Ndema's message, from Food, Agriculture and Natural... More

Temporary, 6 month full time position, from May 15, 2014 YPARD is an international movement by Young Professionals for Young Professionals for Agricultural Development. It operates as a network; it is not a formalized institution. This global on-line and off-line communication and discussion platform is meant to enable YPs all over the world to realize their full potential and contribute towards... More

Big Facts, CCAFS-led website on facts and figures about climate change, agriculture and food security CCAFS, the CGIAR funded Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, has recently relaunched the Big Facts website, a great source of information on the societal challenges that we face today for everyone, from researchers and policy makers to young professionals just getting started... More

The 2013 external review of YPARD was undertaken by a team of twinned senior-junior external consultants, from August to December 2013, with the Final Report approved by the Steering Committee (SC) in January 2014. We appreciate the work of the reviewers and welcome their recommendations for a "renewed YPARD". The SC agrees on the set of recommendations designed to bring YPARD... More

In a post- crisis world, innovation in rural development can be the single most important driver of the growth and competitiveness of agricultural sector. Today, there is much more reliance on the agricultural market than in the past decades. Issues of what to do to reduce poverty, increase profit from agricultural production, employment and widen consumers` choice are still to be... More

2014 is the launch of YPARD’s 2014-2018 vision, set to strengthen YPARD’s ability to foster youth’s role for a sustainable agricultural development. We kicked off the year with a key strategic planning meeting which marks a turn for YPARD. A series of changes were made to reflect the dynamism and wide-scale performance of YPARD. YPARD’s full name, its vision and mission,... More

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) counts about 7000 agricultural scientists of which about 27% were young professionals (under 40 years of age) in 2009. Youth's share is going to increase to 48% by the end of the year 2013 making the ICAR the youngest in the world National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) (data from ASTI (FAO)).At this backdrop, with... More

To enhance our activities in Nigeria and ensure the effectiveness of YPARD in the country - especially as it relates to achieving our strategic objectives of mobilizing more members and stakeholders and build youth's capacities - a call for application was made in December 2013 for Young Professionals to be part of the National Working Group for YPARD Nigeria. We are... More

Farmers from Adillpur, in the Ghotki-Sindh district in Pakistan – where the major crop is wheat - were having some feeling of frustration when considering their cultivation devastated by abrupt weeds which harbor insects, pests and microorganisms - making their labor fruitless. Our dedicated and tireless volunteer: Mr. Abdul Rauf along with other Young Professionals (YPs) visited the fields and recommended... More

Like any other society, there are many unwritten rules, norms or social behavioral codes borne out of culture in Africa – especially in my country Nigeria, for which I can speak out of experience. One of those norms is that a youth does not talk where his elders are talking, he can only watch, listen and observe – even if s/he... More

La Plate-forme pour la recherche agricole pour le développement (YPARD) en Guinée, lance un appel à candidatures pour les jeunes professionnels dynamiques et talentueux, avides d'un développement agricole de façon durable, pour rejoindre l'équipe nationale en Guinée. La candidature est ouverte pour quatre (4) postes de bénévoles : 1 chargé de communications&Webmaster1 chargé de partenariat et mobilisation de ressources1 agent administratif et... More

CGIAR is working on the planning of the next phase of the CGIAR’s strategy and programmes. These documents play a key role in setting the frame, for shaping an effective international agricultural research. It is thus crucial that all partners involved in the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR) have their say in these processes  - among which YPARD Community and Young... More

By Martina Graf, YPARD Europe and Jakob Hoerl, IFSA Ever heard of the word METSÄ, or of a place called Rovaniemi? No? Ok - Metsä means forest in Finnish and is a very important word in a country where 76% (23 million hectares) of the land is covered by forest and around 3% of the population work in the forestry sector,... More

The YPARD Team sends you their very best wishes for 2014! Thanks to all of you who contributed to making 2013 a year of great achievements.  We are ready to kick off 2014 with a strategic planning meeting, to set out a longer term vision and strengthen YPARD’s ability to bring significant youth input into discussions that are key for their... More

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s fastest growing population and also the youngest. This is a huge opportunity for West Africa as young people bring energy, vivacity, and innovation into the work force and can consequently have a transformative impact on economic growth and social development. The agricultural sector plays a key role in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)... More

The ‘Science Forum 2013’ held during 23-25, September 2013 in Bonn, Germany focused on ‘Nutrition and health outcomes: targets for agricultural research’. The uniqueness of the Forum was the special session for the early career scientists organized by the Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Twenty one scientists who are in their... More

Networking - why YPARDians should do it YPARD is a platform which notably promotes information and experience exchange, so it is all about networking! For this very reason, our first event in Brazil was about “Professional Networking” in partnership with Crea Jovem. The event was held at Crea headquarters in Brasilia on November 28. Our programme started with a brief presentation... More

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together” was said by one the greatest painters, Vincent van Gogh, and perfectly describes the journey of YPARD Brazil from July – when I was nominated YPARD Brazil representative – to November – when we had the first event of YPARD Brazil. New country, new team,... More

A dead-end street or socially degrading path, here’s what agriculture represents for many young people in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP). ICT can help to reverse this trend. "Many young people don’t see farming as an interesting sector. Every year hundreds of young people leave the villages to settle in the city ", laments Michael Hailu, Director of the Technical... More