Social media has grown tremendously in the last few years and it has enabled the spreading of information to a wider public. Now a powerful tool connects communities regardless of the location. The Young Engagement in Agriculture Network (YEAN) and Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) have together accumulated experience in managing and coordinating different social media reporting projects for several... Continue reading

The Government of Bangladesh identifies nutrition as a cross-cutting issue and has committed to the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement.  Nutrition may have a significant impact on physical as well as cognitive development and productivity in humans. Good nutrition, which comprises adequate quality and quantity of food intake that reduces the frequency of illness is considered to be a basic human... Continue reading

Apres l’Afrique de l’est, les jeunes professionnels pour le développement agricole (YPARD) en collaboration avec l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO) ainsi que Rikolto (anciennement VECO West Africa) programment un autre  atelier de formation du 21 au 25 Octobre 2019 à Dakar/Sénégal. Cet atelier concerne les jeunes des pays d’Afrique de l’ouest, entre autres le Benin, le Sénégal,... Continue reading

The Ghana Association of Agricultural Economists (GAAE) held its third annual conference at the ISSER Conference Facility- University of Ghana, Legon from July 23-26, 2019. The conference theme was “Sustainable agriculture and national development: Finance, Markets and Job creation”. The three-day conference brought together academia, researchers, industry partners and young entrepreneurs interested in developing careers in agribusiness. Apart from plenary discussion... Continue reading

The International Youth Day 2019 was celebrated all the over the world with the theme “Transforming education”, highlighting efforts to make education more relevant, equitable and inclusive for all youth, including efforts by youth themselves. In similar vein the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Youth Agripreneurs in conjunction with ENABLE TAAT hosted a symposium on the 15th of August 2019... Continue reading

The cocoa industry is vital to the development of Ghana’s economy as it constitutes about 1.8% of the country’s GDP. It is a major contributor to agricultural growth, employment, rural household incomes and macroeconomic stability. Despite its critical role, Ghanaian youth have been reluctant to engage in business within the cocoa value chain in the face of ageing cocoa farmers. This... Continue reading

Agriculture is key to long-term economic growth and food security. Increasingly, rural economic growth plays a critical role in Nigeria’s successful job creation, economic diversity, improved security and sustainable economic growth. Thus focusing policy instruments and private sector investments will ensure that the commercialization of agriculture includes technologies, financial services, inputs supply chains, and market linkages that directly engage youth and... Continue reading

Information and communication technology (ICT) evolves at lightning speed. It became part of our everyday life, so it is the very time to set them even more in the service of agriculture to compete for food and nutrition security. Continuing the series, started in 1997 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the actual 12th EFITA conference was held in Rhodes Island, Greece, between 27-29... Continue reading

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) is an umbrella organization that is aimed at leading, uniting and assisting the organic movement worldwide with its full diversity. Staying true to its core values IFOAM Organics International organizes an Organic Leadership Course (OLC) every year. Each year the organizers choose a new country connected to organic agriculture. In 2019, the OLC was... Continue reading

Out of my desire to acquire new knowledge and skills, and my quest to understand the nitty-gritty of integrated farming systems, I and my colleagues recently embarked on a week-long sojourn to Songhai Integrated Production and Training CentreThis is a farm nestled in a 22-hectare parcel of land in the Ouando neighbourhood of Porto Novo, the Republic of Benin. Established in... Continue reading

In a bid to ensure a diverse representation of young people in various executive meetings and committees YPARD has nominated Kristina Kuznetsova as the new YPARD Representative in the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) management team. What is the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD)? EFARD is an umbrella network of European research and non- research... Continue reading

In the spring of 2018, select YPARDians came together at the Czech University of Life Sciences to deliberate on the strategic direction YPARD should take. Part of those discussions centred on the governance structure of YPARD and the dire need for a review as highlighted in the YPARD 2017 external review. The Charter was last revised in 2014 and we have seen a... Continue reading

At YPARD, we believe in structures that renew themselves and leadership that evolves in accordance with the network governance. In April 2019, the Steering Committee (SC) members met to choose the next SC team members. The only eligible members for renewal were Rahul Antao and Sithembile Mwamakamba. The outgoing SC unanimously voted them into the position of the chair and the... Continue reading

An opportunity presented itself for young people to contribute to the recently launched 2019 Rural Development Report on rural development by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).  The focus of the report was on creating opportunities for rural youth and was launched at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. It goes without saying that the importance of young people owning dialogues... Continue reading

YPARD is delighted to welcome Phidel Hazel Arunga as the Country Representative of YPARD Kenya. Phidel is a graduate with a master’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and a Bachelor in Environmental Planning and Management from the University of Eldoret. Phidel’s application stood out from the several applications submitted to the call for... Continue reading

At YPARD, we are proud to look back at the successes and exciting initiatives of the network. 2018 was a strategic year at YPARD that saw a lot of changes to the network’s strategic orientation with particular reference to the strategic planning meeting. These top achievements include; We welcomed 14 new team members to the YPARD team including twelve new country... Continue reading

After a successful end of term for the Tanzania representative, Juma Bruno Ngomuo, YPARD is looking for a passionate and dedicated young professional to take up the position of YPARD representative in Tanzania. To meet its goals, YPARD works with young professionals on a regional, national or local level to undertake activities at a more geographically appropriate level. YPARD is looking... Continue reading

On the sidelines of the annual FAO Conference,41st session a youth event dubbed Real Action on Youth – Driving the Future of Agriculture was organized.   The event, sponsored by the Government of the Netherlands, aimed at giving the attendees a clear understanding of what policy actions are needed on Youth, as well as ideas of ways in which a Youth Council could be... Continue reading

In a globalized world, international mobility is a commonplace.  We travel and sojourn in foreign lands for trade, leisure or pleasure and other forms of experiences that “more and varieties” can afford us. For youth, in particular, we travel also for educational reasons.  What we learn and experience in this process change us in many different ways.  For African youth taking... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome a new steering committee member: Sebastian Pedraza Paez.  Sebastian is a Colombian youth leader who has relevant experience in rural youth issues. He is a graduate with an Associate Degree in ICT from SENA and currently finishing an Associate Degree in Music Production from  Latin American professional audio foundation Center. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in... Continue reading