In the run-up to the GCARD3 in 2015, YPARD and GFAR Secretariat piloted the Young Agripreneurs Project (YAP) project in taking an innovative approach to address the the lack of opportunities and access for youth in the agri-food sector. This project broke new ground in combining an online competition to select outstanding young agripreneurs with seed funding, mentoring, business development training and guidance in new ways to advocate and network using innovative communication and outreach tools. The pilot YAP project has been enthusiastically endorsed by its donors, the young agripreneurs themselves and other project stakeholders.
The end-of-pilot project evaluation was commissioned both as a reflection and learning process as well as providing an evidence base for future iterations of the Project. This report documents the Projects achievements and challenges in its pilot year and its value to its participants, ii) the unique characteristics of the Project that have made a difference, iii) whether the Project was delivered efficiently and, iv) how the Project could be improved moving forward.