“Iwe kiko lai si oko ati ada ko i pe o ko i pe o, ise agbe ni ise ile wa eni kosise ama jale” “Formal education without cutlass and hoe is not complete because farming is our country’s major trademark, and he that does not work, will steal”. I was taught this nursery rhyme while in the elementary school. The... Continue reading

Sridhar Gutam is our new YPARD India National Representative. Sridhar Gutam after earning a Ph.D. (Plant Physiology) from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, had joined Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 2004. He is currently working as a Senior Scientist (Plant Physiology) at Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow. His... Continue reading

I never gave so much attention to the cocoa industry during all my studies of opportunities for youth in agribusiness. Majorly, I was reluctant because i just had this uneasy feeling about the waiting period of 3 to 5 years before making profit and the fact that it requires some reasonable amount of volume in terms of quantity and quality. In... Continue reading

For the past year, one of the Web 2.0 tools I am using a lot for information search and dissemination is Twitter. There are of course other tools to collaborate, access information and to connect with people/organisations that have same interests as me (See one of my previous posts on Web 2.0 tools: Some practical examples), but presently I find Twitter... Continue reading

Young people are the backbone of national economy and are the strengths of tomorrow. Every nation must think about best possible education and, thereby job opportunities to the young people so that they will have appropriate skills when time comes for their contributions to the nation. This is very lacking part in most of the developing and under-developed countries, at least... Continue reading

Youth are messenger of excellent source of ideas and innovation. Investing in young people on improved access to training, capacity development and facilitating to use of appropriate technology will have the best effect to attract more youth in agriculture. On these days, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been key tools for knowledge sharing and networking in development of agriculture globally.... Continue reading

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Global Youth Forum was held in Bali, Indonesia, from 4th -6th  December 2012 in the context of the reviewing and following up to the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action beyond 2014 and development agenda beyond 2015. The aim was to produce recommended actions for the outcome report of the review and... Continue reading

YPARD Team wishes every each of you a Happy New Year! We would like to give a big thanks to all of you who helped us make 2012 a big success.  It was a great year for youth in ARD and building of a stronger YPARD.  We look forward to working with all of you for an active and successful 2013,... Continue reading

Agri-Hub Ethiopia (AHE), a platform, has organized an annual networking day on December 13, 2012 and invited interested organizations and individuals to participate on the workshop. I have attended the workshop- representing YPARD. The day long event was hosted in Harmony Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Around 60 members of the AHE were participated.  It was started with the Agri-Hub coordinator Mr.... Continue reading

Among the many highlights of my participation at the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2)  with the theme FORESIGHT AND PARTNERSHIP FOR INNOVATION AND IMPACT ON SMALL-HOLDER LIVELIHOODS at Punta del Este, Uruguay on 29th October to November 1, 2012, one experience that I would not forget very quickly was the visit to the Solari Family Farm in... Continue reading

Introduction The global community is organized to accommodate those completing studies. You can decide to make your life exciting or dull and boring in the same community. When you complete university studies, you find yourself having to part with people, networks, and information. Interestingly, studying is a phase in this earthly life. You go or pass them on your way forward.... Continue reading

It is generally believed that field survey is a vital and basic way to conduct research and for the preparation of polices. We (International Division of Agricultural Information Institute, CAAS) did several long time and large geographical span field surveys in the past years. The study “Improving nutrition, food safety and food security for China’s most vulnerable women and children” was conducted in 2010-2012 by the United... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

YPARD is glad to welcome our very first YPARD Nepal representative, Dinesh Panday! Dinesh Panday has a B.Sc. in Agriculture (2011) from the Tribhuvan University (TU), in Nepal. He is currently enrolled as Research Assistant in Soil Science Division of Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), Nepal. His areas of research interest include soil fertility, sustainable soil management and geographical information system... Continue reading

“Agribusiness, Cool business” were the words on the lips of the 39 youths that came together in Akure Ondo state Nigeria on the 21st of November 2012 to be part of the COOL TO FARM Workshop series by Agropreneur Nigeria and the OAC-Agro Advocacy Initiative. The main purpose of the workshop was to show to the youth that agriculture can be... Continue reading

We solicited you to integrate COP18 debates related to agriculture some days ago: Youth, agriculture and COP18: Time to engage! We shared a number of hints on  how to get involved from your seat: Youth, agriculture and COP18: HOW to engage NOW! Still not quite clear on what you can do concretely? Still in the phase of letting others speak for... Continue reading

YPARD was invited by CTA to participate to its Strategic Youth Stakeholder Workshop from 14th to 16th November 2012 in Wageningen, The Netherlands. A group of around 25 young professionals, coming from Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP), and other partners among which FANRPAN, FAO and IFAD, were gathered – all, working on Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development. CTA workshop’s objective... Continue reading

COP18, huge conference on climate change, will kick off from November 26 to December 7, 2012 in Doha, Qatar. Two events are particularly related to agriculture: Forest day and Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day, December 2 and 3 (organized by CGIAR). As we have learned during GCARD2, special media gives us the opportunity to engage, to get the voice heard of... Continue reading

COP18 for Dummies COP18 is the 18th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They meet annually to assess progress in dealing with climate change. There are now 195 parties to the convention taking part in climate change negotiations. All parties to the UNFCCC are represented at the COP. During... Continue reading

YPARD, the Young Professionals' Platform for Agricultural Research for Development, as a core community of young professionals for young professionals in ARD, was given particular attention as mechanism through which supporting the youth from GCARD2 roadmap to implementation. Empowering Youth capacity building for ARD The dedicated session on empowering youth and women through capacity building (C2.2) comes naturally as the most... Continue reading