YPARD representation at the Rome Based Agencies Youth Council

One of the key areas of focus for YPARD is to allow the diverse representation of young professionals in key leadership positions.

In following the same model, YPARD Global Coordination Unit nominated Jim Cano, represent YPARD in the newly formed Youth Council among the Rome Based Agencies.

The idea of the Rome Based Agencies youth council was announced by Ambassador Hans during the Youth Interactive Event on the sidelines of the International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers: Unlocking the potential of agricultural innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals . You can watch the webcast recording for the event HERE

What is the RBA Youth Council?

The Youth Council aims to be a valuable resource to the Rome-Based Agencies (Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the form of an inclusive, youth-led advisory team that champions practical innovations and policies focused on the unique needs and strengths of young people in agriculture globally.  

Beyond designing programs and initiatives that target young people, young people feel it is essential to work directly with them to achieve sustainable impact. As key stakeholders in the pursuit of a world free of hunger, young people are uniquely equipped to enact change that is relevant to them and to the areas where they have expertise. Consultative, collaborative systems that give young people real opportunities to be listened to must be prioritized over those that treat youth as beneficiaries rather than implementers.

 The initial working group of the Youth Council comprises institutions like YPARD and the youth groups involved with the Private Sector Mechanism, for instance, 4H network and the Climate Smart Youth Network. They are currently involved in working and designing the modalities of the Youth Council. 

About Jim Cano

Jim has a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture with a major in Agricultural Systems, and is currently pursuing graduate studies in MS Development Management and Governance. He is a Teaching Associate at the Agricultural Systems Institute of the College of Agriculture and Food Science at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). Aside from Jim’s role as Country Representative of YPARD Philippines, he also serves as the Capacity Building and Policy Officer of YPARD Asia Pacific.

Since 2015, Jim has been invited to speak at different international conferences to share about youth-in-agriculture engagement using the 5-fold strategy that YPARD Philippines has come up with. He is an avid policy advocate for youth-oriented agricultural policies as well. He has led a national consultation in partnership with a national government agency under the Department of Agriculture to create a roadmap for youth programs in agriculture for the next years. At the core of his advocacy work is to see that youth-in-ag are given a higher level of participation when it comes to their own development.

His public speaking owes to his involvement with the Toastmasters Club of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). As an advocate of agribusiness, Jim also has several agritech startups in the pipeline that are in development with friends and colleagues.

When he is not engaged in any of the above, Jim is into his interests of photography, drone photography, digital art, music and gaming.

We will keep updating you on the developments of the Youth Council.