In rural development today, there is much more reliance on the market than in the past decades. Issues of what to do to reduce poverty, increase profit from agricultural production, employment and widened consumers` choice are still to be answered. To deal with these problems, development agencies design projects that increasingly turned to grants to provide solutions. In agriculture grants are... More

by Abodunrin Adeola Atinuke “The budget of any nation, especially a developing nation such as ours, is the next important instrument of governance after the Constitution. It reflects government's priorities in the various sectors while also showcasing government's values and reward systems. It is the budget that government utilises in encouraging or discouraging growth as well as in improving the welfare... More

I first heard of the global essay writing competition by Youth for Fish Program (YFFP) on how to fully engage youth in Fisheries and Aquaculture development from a friend at work. I later viewed it on the website of the Young Professionals Platform for Agricultural Research for development (YPARD). I first registered as a YFFP member  and then submitted my application... More

YPARD welcomes YPARD representative for Moldova: Sergiu Mihailov Sergiu Mihailov became a YPARD member in 2012 together with other young professionals from the agricultural field, in Moldova. He believes that through a joint cooperation between private farmers, civil society (NGO-s), research institutions and other key actors from the entire agricultural system, it is possible to achieve a sustainable development of the... More

Universities are extraordinary institutions. Among 12 universities in Nepal, there are 3 which are related to higher agricultural education. As namely: Tribhuvan University (TU) with Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Gokuleshwor Agriculture and Animal Science Campus, Agri- engineering and Food Technology, Tea Technology and Management, Horticulture and Floriculture Management;Purbanchal University (PU) with Himalayan College of Science and Technology and Nepal... More

YPARD welcomes Ivana Radic, YPARD Country Representative for Serbia. Ivana Radic fell into the field of agriculture at her first age : her mother was the manager of a big and successful agricultural cooperative, and later her father started running a pig and cattle farm. She entered the Faculty of Agriculture although this was not the path expected by people she... More

By Raymond Erick Zvavanyange Recently, I attended a roving seminar hosted by the University Of Zimbabwe Department Of Physics in association with Agromet Vision of the Netherlands from 19-21 March, 2013. The speaker was Professor C. Kees Stigter of the International Association of Agricultural Meteorology and Agromet Vision of The Netherlands. Previous seminars were held under the title "Operational Agrometeorology: Reaching... More

YPARD welcomes Meerim Shakirova as YPARD Country Representative for Kyrgyzstan. Meerim Shakirova was born and raised in Kyrgyzstan. When Meerim was 16, she moved to Moscow and started her active role in the international sphere, which has allowed her to play leadership roles as a global youth leader, climate change consultant and educator. Meerim has received scholarships from the Kyrgyz government... More

YPARD welcomes YPARD representative for Iran: Mohammadreza Davari. Mohammadreza Davari has completed his PhD degree in Agronomy from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in 2009. After completion of his education he has been engaging in research and teaching at university as well as in voluntary work with young in environmental NGOs. SabzAndishan Arak and Kimiyaye sabz are two of these NGOs (website... More

YPARD welcomes Keron Bascombe as YPARD Representative for Trinidad and Tobago. Keron Bascombe is a writer, blogger and budding agri journalist from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Currently he reads for a Msc in Agribusiness and Marketing at the University of the West Indies (UWI). However due to experiencing several other learning environments he is now set on a... More

Nowadays, internet enables us to live everywhere in the world with the feeling of no distance to each other even though one may live in a small isolated village. One of the most useful usages of internet is through contributing in sharing information either on modern concepts or indigenous knowledge. Young professionals can effectively take part by sharing their knowledge through... More

YPARD is glad to announce the winner of the Seeing Thoughts contest! YPARD Seeing Thoughts video competition launched in 2012 was an attempt to capture and showcase the voices of youth and their contribution to agriculture for development, whether in research, in production or assisting a community to develop a sustainable livelihood. The contest was coupled with a learning process: the... More

by André-Daniel Stucki,(Bern University of Applied Sciences School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL) Usually it took me about half an hour to make my way from the Institute of Agroecology of the University of BaltI to the “Brigade”, the machinery section of the research Institute “Selectia” on the outskirts of the city. This way always included some traffic with... More

Urban farming in Kenya has moved beyond just being a poor man's profession. Can it even provide a solution to looming food insecurity? On a stroll through Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, one's eyes are drawn to a myriad of agricultural activities taking place. From a distance, greenhouses seem to sprout from any available piece of land and backyards. And that... More

The YPARD Steering Committee which was held in Rome February 22nd and 23rd, 2013 was a fruitful event, examining the activities and role of YPARD, strategy and the years to come.  A couple points of note were a new Steering Committee chair and a new name for the coordinator. New Chair YPARD would like to welcome Codrin Paveliuc-Olariu as the new... More

It was an exciting experience to present during the sixth annual Ugandan fish farmers symposium on January 22nd, 2013. Youths’ participation during the symposium was vibrant. Some youths presented their innovations while others presented on behalf of their organisations. One of the aquaculture stakeholders at the symposium commended youth contributions saying that the youth of this generation presented a more practical... More

YPARD welcomes Olawale Ojo as the New YPARD Representative for Nigeria. You most probably know Olawale already, through YPARD Community Blog and Social Media, where he has been very active. Olawale was one of our “YP of the Month” last year, sharing his success story. He also belonged to the social reporters team at GCARD2; learn more about his experience. Olawale... More

YPARD is welcoming OBERT MATHIVHA as YPARD South Africa representative. Obert Mathivha grew up in rural areas of South Africa where agricultural activities became part of his upbringing and constituted about 90 percent of his household survival and income. Today, Obert is a legal and diplomatic graduate from the University of Pretoria while his  inherent passion for agriculture made him to... More

Agriculture in Nepal is still of subsistence but with the right policies and supportive investments at local, regional and national levels, agriculture offers new opportunities to move out of poverty. On the above background, the government of Nepal with the grant assistance ($18 million among total budget of $24.1 million USD) from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has implemented Commercial Agriculture... More

Pan African Youth Conference on Learning for Sustainability was held at Silver Springs Hotel, in Nairobi, Kenya on January 30 to 31, 2013 The Conference brought together ‘young’ minds involved in sustainable development (SD) and green economy (GE) throughout Africa. The Conference theme was “Empowering Youths for Sustainable Development”. It was organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) programme... More