Thank you YPARD! - Action Plans and new skills for the future By Johanna Gysin and Martina Graf The last week of the 26th International Leadership Workshop for Rural Youth has been coined by a very busy and highly concentrated atmosphere among the participants and facilitators of the seminar. In the first week we learnt all about team building, about motivation... More

The 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week with the theme;- “Africa Feeding Africa through Agricultural Science and Innovation” was held between the 15th and 21st of July 2013 at Accra, Ghana and put together by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). It was an event  that I was happy to have participated in. You might wonder why I have said... More

I just read Bunmi Ajilore’s blog post, Youth Involvement in Agriculture: The Image Factor (Nigerian story/perspective) and I think it highlighted a very key issue with youth and agriculture - globally - Image. We all know that the in general, perceptions around agriculture are less than glamorous and the field is viewed as neither interesting nor lucrative enough especially when compared with... More

The fact that post-harvest physiological deterioration (PPD) is one of the most significant bottlenecks in cassava processing chains may be nothing new, as it is one of the biggest challenges facing cassava producers, but that three young scientists have keen interest in a long-term effort to tackle this challenge proves quite encouraging. Luis Augusto Becerra, molecular biologist at CIAT’s Cassava Program,... More

Happy International Youth Day 2013 ! IYD is celebrated every year by the UN on the 12 August. The theme for this year is ‘Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward’. We asked young students and professionals in agriculture to share with us their experiences and insights about youth migration and its relation to Development. We particularly invited them to discuss rural-urban migration and... More

My name is Grace Muinga, an agricultural economist by profession. I have a Bachelors and a Master’s degree in Agriculture Economics from Egerton University in Kenya and University of Reading, UK respectively. I hail from Kenya. I have a passion for improving the food security situation in developing countries as well as reducing uncertainty and risk in the agriculture environment so... More

I am pretty much a city girl. I was born at a hospital in the city centre of the capital of Brazil, Brasilia. I grew up playing in and with another children in the streets using my rollers, adventuring in homemade karts (known as rolimãs in Brazil) or even running around because of the well-known “hide and seek” game. I was... More

“I Left Nigeria Once, I will Leave Again” - Many might wonder what I am talking about. But before I tell you where I left for and why, let me give you a brief background on my journey into Agriculture. As a young boy, I grew up around computers. From an early age I could handily clone, with my own hands... More

I come from a small village in France called "Toutlemonde"; it literally means "All the World" or "everybody". Not sure this drew my destiny but fact is that I am both representative of rural-urban migration and emigration. Rural areas, to me, are quite the opposite of what I hear from my YPARD peers in Africa or Asia. Country side for me... More

This year’s International Youth Day celebration is themed “Youth and Migration: Moving Development Forward.” The focus is for young people to discuss issues surrounding rural-urban and country to country youth migration. This situation needs attention because statistics show that 30% of migration occurs among youths. Growing up as a young agricultural student in Africa, studying Animal Science, one of my greatest... More

With nearly 28 million people, though Nepal is predominantly an agrarian country, migration is increasingly becoming an important livelihood strategy for farm households in rural Nepal. Remittance has emerged as the lifeblood as earnings through agriculture in rural areas is insufficient and the youth prefer to go abroad where they have higher chances of earning more. A recent Nepal’s official data... More

I am from a small rural community located in the southern part of the beautiful island, Trinidad. After completing my degree I moved back home but inadequate job opportunities in my field of study, inept mentorship programs and limited leisure activities at that time lead me to move to an urban community. Even though the rural communities were major providers of... More

According to the UN - Youths are seen as one of the most mobile social groups in migration context. They make up about 30% of international migrants. Migration could arise as a result of tranfer or a change in job, education or an entire family or individual relocating abroad for "greener pastures". Some could also be within a particular country for... More

The commonest form of migration is from rural to urban areas. Most young people move to urban areas, towns and cities due to a number of reasons. The location of industries, better infrastructures, better employment opportunities, jobs and lifestyles among others explain this phenomenon. “The location of businesses, organizations and government ministries in towns and cities is what drives the youth... More

According to the report of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB),  remittance contributes about 25%  to the country's GDP and also according to the report of Department of Immigration of Tribhuvan International Airport  1500 plus  Nepali youths migrate abroad daily to foreign job market. These two facts depict how severe is the situation of youth migration in Nepal. The very low access to... More

The subject of youth migration brings to mind a number of points to debate on. Here, I postulate that in its initial stages, youth migration appears to be in response to fault lines within one’s own governance system. This could be as a result of a breakdown of social services and unfavourable socio-economic and political conditions. In the mature stages, youth... More

I was raised in a dairy farm on the rural outskirts in the Tailevu North Province, Fiji Island. After primary education I moved to Suva the City to further my studies and I have been residing in the City for over 20 years. I have worked in the armed forces, join the business executive’s career but deep inside I had a... More

The road is long towards full inclusion of Young Professionals into strategic international actions for agricultural development. But the adventure enables you to meet and work with outstanding people who understand the critical role youth play for sustainable development. It is time to celebrate youth supporters and look at the achievement made together so far. GCARD2, 2012, represented a milestone for... More

Nepal has three typical terrain (mountains, hills and plains), carried out on a variety of terrain agriculture differently. Livestock farming is generally dominated in the mountains, hills region's agriculture places horticulture based, and plains are mainly planted cereal crops. Nepal has a rich agricultural biodiversity, many crops to adapt to strong growth in a variety of Climatic Zones, has great potential... More

Interview with Nick Levendofsky, National Farmers Union and Kansas Farmer Union USABy Ivana Radic Nick Levendovsky (28) from Kansas, representing the National Farmers Union (link) and the Kansas Farmers union at the 26th International leadership workshop for rural youth, in Herrsching, Germany gives a great insight in his up to date learning from the seminar. In another interview he tells about... More