The East African Farmers Federation (EAFF) together with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) held a two-day workshop on youth space in policy and financial inclusion. This formed part of the ongoing project of “Scaling-Up Rural Youth Access to inclusive Financial Services for Entrepreneurship and employment”. The project is being implemented in 3 East African... Continue reading

The school farm initiative is one of the new strategic plans of YPARD and FAO for the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, the project’s framework will make use of a curriculum concept, to promote training sessions based on an integrated production system.  It aims to combine scientific concepts and social capital to set up a socio-economic framework. Its dynamic will... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome the YPARD Belgium Country Representative Michael Ruggeri.  Michael holds a master’s degree in Rural and Agricultural Development from the University of East Anglia, preceded by another master’s degree in Environment and International Development from “La Sapienza” University. Among other things, Michael has recently collaborated with FAO on the preparation of the State of the World’s Biodiversity for... Continue reading

Young Professionals for Agricultural Development, YPARD, together with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is now set to develop a new strategic plan that focuses on the development of human capital particularly – the youth.  It aims to design an efficient mechanism of intervention to solve some common challenges within the agricultural sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).... Continue reading

In this year, a total of 352 youth representatives from 69 countries gathered in Beijing to attend and contribute to the 4th Asian-African Youth Festival 2019, Beijing, China from 15 to 19 October 2019.  Youth representatives came from all alley of life, including politics, economic, sports, education, media, academia, and social organizations. There were 199 representatives from 34 Asian Countries. The... Continue reading

I am Shah Khalid, a Ph.D. scholar in Agronomy at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan.  I am very glad to share my story on my journey with YPARD Pakistan. Last month, I have received a call from Prof. Dr. Muhammad Arif, who told me about Ms. Shahla Salahuddin, YPARD Pakistan Country Representative. Ms. Salahuddin introduced a conference co-organized by YPARD... Continue reading

YPARD is currently collaborating with FAO to design and plan the best approach in tackling the agricultural sector challenges in the non-conflictual zones in the RNE (North Africa and Near East region).  Looking at the climate and natural resources available in those countries, we note that there are many challenges to overcome.  We could cite countries like Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait,... Continue reading

YPARD is currently working with FAO in order to design and plan the best approach to tackle the major challenges within the agricultural sector in RNE (North Africa and Near East region), especially as regards the youth.  Priorities are to be set concerning the countries, which are mainly affected by these challenges such as Syria, Yemen, Sudan and Iraq. A baseline understanding... Continue reading

Farmers in rural areas are associated with inadequate technical knowledge on good agricultural production and post-harvest techniques that lead a cycle of poverty. In addition to these, they lack access to sufficient veterinary services for their livestock. This results in economic losses due to disease and pest infestations. To bridge the knowledge gap in these rural areas and strengthen rural knowledge... Continue reading

It was on a sunny Saturday on 2nd November 2019 when a group of 30 young agribusiness actors and farmers gathered under the auspices of Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) Nigeria in Ibadan to host a café themed “Agricultural Crop Value Chain: The role of the Entrepreneur”. The YPARD café provided a platform for members of the YPARD network to... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome the YPARD project support intern Wendel Georges.  Wendel is originally from Haiti but have had the privilege to live his past six years in Costa Rica, where he gained first his bachelor degree in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management at Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda (EARTH), and just recently he graduated with a... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome the YPARD project support intern Gabriel Yves Badr. Gabriel is an Agricultural Engineering student with a Minor in Politics. He is currently rounding up his final year project entitled “Agriculture, Syria’s economic hope” in order to obtain his diploma of Agricultural Engineering along with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik.... Continue reading

Agroecology is a scientific discipline that involves a set of practices and a social movement.  Indeed, it seeks sustainable farming systems to optimize and stabilize yield and tackles a multifunctional role for agriculture, promotes social justice and culture and strengthens the economic viability of rural areas. The new project involving youth in agroecology will be implemented through the collaboration between UNFAO... Continue reading

It was a great opportunity participating and representing YPARD at the symposium of “the future of youth’s political participation” in Strasbourg France, organized by the European Union and the Council of Europe.  Introductions and conversations were held including all participants along with the questions and answers sessions describing the actual state of youth in politics and the improvements that should be further tackled to... Continue reading

Assam is one of the states of India which is located in the northeast region. It is a tea grown area.  Assam tea industry is at the peak of crises and on the verge of economic distress.   Presently, Assam Tea is not economically profitable as it used to be earlier on account of rising production costs and stagnant prices of the... Continue reading

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are global index to measure national development in areas such as economic growth, environmental issues, human capital development, food security and health, and many more. The Goal Keepers initiative is one of the index established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established to track progress on SDGs and support implementation through policies and activities directed... Continue reading

During my visit to Armenia, I met with Anna, YPARD representative for Armenia at her lovely venture, located some 40 km from Yerevan. Anna leads a socially responsible enterprise that produces dried fruits. She works closely with about 300 families in a region, from whom she buys raw material. Annas’ business has created 30 workplaces for villagers, especially women, while their husbands... Continue reading

This was the motto of the International Seminar for leaders of rural youth work in "Herrsching am ammersee" in Bavaria, Munich-Germany 2019. Almost 80 young professionals from almost 50 countries around the world attended this seminar, where they shared with each other their knowledge and experiences. At the same time, they worked together to gain Leadership knowledge and skills. They also... Continue reading

For the past few years, YPARD and its partner organizations have conducted a series of activities to support young people in agriculture. Our mission is to enable and empower young agricultural leaders shaping sustainable food systems. To achieve this we have our members at heart, who are encouraged to become active voices for the youth in their respective fields and organizations... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome the incoming YPARD Azerbaijan communications focal point Ramil Azmammadov.  Ramil studied a BA in Agriculture Management and MA in Management of Production Systems at Azerbaijan State Agriculture University. While he studied MA in Management of Production Systems, he received a scholarship from the Hungarian Republic and FAO to study a second master's degree in Hungary. In... Continue reading