A few years ago, when I first attended Syngenta`s Forum for the Future of Agriculture I found out about the TFF Challenge, a competition aimed at students of all levels that has set an objective to “feed 9 billion by 2050? by unleashing the creative potential of youth in designing innovative solutions for ending world hunger.At first, I was angry. I... Continue reading

Last week, I promised that I would write a follow-up article to the one I previously posted on “Practicing what we preach in Agriculture: Too Cool to Farm”. I had wanted to discuss the general challenges and opportunities in farming from my local perspective. However, I will not specifically dwell on the particulars of challenges and opportunities but will discuss them... Continue reading

A National Youth in Agriculture Policy Dialogue in Zimbabwe was held at Rainbow Towers in Harare Zimbabwe on the 26th April 2013 to interrogate the case study findings—for Zimbabwe, following the commissioned six country case studies in 2012 by the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Network (FANRPAN), based in South Africa. These policy dialogues are on-going in FANRPAN’s program of... Continue reading

I am a young girl from eastern part of Nepal, moreover I am very young in agriculture field although more than two third of Nepalese population depend upon agriculture to sustain their daily life. When I meet with my neighbors and other people, they usually ask me what I am studying. My answer is “agriculture”, but their perception level is different... Continue reading

On a sunny day of spring, YPARDians, students from the Department of Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering and Department of Molecular Medicine & Bioinformatics, lead by F.M. Safiul Azam from UODA had a visit to farmers` field to learn detail about agricultural practices and crop-profit status of horticulture. They have visited fields of Taro and Gladiolus, which are one of the major... Continue reading

The Young Professionals' Platform for Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD), as a global community, has given particular attention to promote youth in agriculture from its establishment. Last week on 25 April 2013, YPARD has organized a seminar entitled YPARD Awareness Campaign (YAC) in collaboration with Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) at Chitwan, Nepal where a total 113 undergraduate students were actively... Continue reading

                I started blogging about one and half year ago. During very beginning of my blogging I didn’t have any idea of what I could post in my blog. Later, I visited some blogs and planned to shape my blog in similar way. I started to collect some online resources and calls such as... Continue reading

During two days a team of three motivated YPARD promoters (Martina Graf, the European Coordinator, Johanna Gysin, Swiss representative and Rahel Wyss, a committed YPARD member) spend their lunch break in front of the HAFL – canteen and spread the word about YPARD among students but also among lecturers, researchers and other employees of the college. The event was a success;... Continue reading

For the last ten days, I was in my village for a –Grand Plan, to clear and plant about 4 hectares of Land which myself and my brother have been cultivating for the 3rd consecutive year for the production of Beans and Maize. As a young person passionate about agriculture and rural development, farming and cultivation of crops popularly grown within... Continue reading

YPARD welcomes YPARD representative for Uzbekistan: Sitora Khabibova! Sitora Khabibova is a graduate of the Russian academy of Economics named after G.V.Plekhanov in Tashkent. She studied Business and Business administration with a major in Finance and credit, from 2004 to 2008. After University she was employed by a consulting company and the Asian Development Bank for different projects and as interpreter.... Continue reading

To enable better networking and collaboration in agriculture, AgriVIVO, managed by the GFAR Secretariat and developed jointly with Cornell University and FAO, has been launched:http://www.agrivivo.net.  AgriVIVO is a search portal built to facilitate connections between all actors in the agricultural field, bridging across separately hosted directories and online communities. YPARD, convinved that this is a great mean for Young Professionals to connect... Continue reading

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) organized the 2nd Youth Forum of ARD on 21st April to discuss what qualifications a researcher needs, what atmosphere is needed for young researchers in ARD. Speakers from leading research agencies - Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and CAAS shared their experiences and ideas. YPARD China Representatives Jieying Bi presented on behalf of... Continue reading

The Forum for Agricultural Risk Management in Development (FARMD) is a network of institutions, practitioners, and academics seeking to enhance experience and knowledge sharing in agricultural risk management, particularly in developing countries. By improving the practice of agricultural risk management, the network seeks to strengthen investments in the agricultural sector and reduce the vulnerabilities faced by different stakeholders. FARMD is open... Continue reading

Just few days after been nominated as the Local Representative for Young Professionals’ Platform for Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD) in Lagos, Nigeria. I was privileged to attend the Youth and Policy Dialogue Series on: Food Security for a Mega Population organized by HEDA resources, Lagos - Nigeria on 5th March, 2013. It was a very wonderful occasion involving individuals, farmers,... Continue reading

In the global agriculture diaspora, several topics/issues are always relevant or rather more current than others. I’ve realized that youth in agriculture are one of these. With fewer and fewer youth becoming involved in agriculture each year many wonder what will happen to the future of the industry. But if this is the case shouldn’t youth that are currently involved in... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading