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Research and Education in Agriculture and Food Production Are Essential for Food Security

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Call for Participation: Special Blog Series on: Agriculture, ICTs and Young Professionals

If agriculture is an aging profession, we need to make some changes!

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Youth Support in Agriculture, Important in our time…My story

Children often want to become engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, and so on, but only few want to become farmers. Even those who want to be farmers are mostly discouraged by their parents who fear they will not get a good job after school; this however wasn’t the case with me as for several years I have been involved in one way or the other in farming.

In my early childhood my mother was the manager of a big and successful agricultural cooperative, so for me it was an everyday situation to spend the mornings in the sugar beet field, or the afternoons in the wheat storage. Later on, my father started running a pig and cattle farm, and this was opportunity to experience a bit of husbandry production...

Mohammadreza Davari, from Iran, tells us his story and reflects on his experience of Young Professional in Agriculture in Iran. Abstract: It was a suitable opportunity for me to apply in Iran my experiences and knowledge obtained from Indian scientists. However, I had to adapt my knowledge to be applicable in my country’s context, because of different climates, equipments and culture.

"Never say never" is the phrase proclaimed with a laugh, by Aracely Castro, a Honduran young researcher specialized in agronomy, when asked where her passion and commitment for applied research come from.

It’s 5.15 in the morning in Ufhusen (LU), a small village of Switzerland. It’s dark and silent, most of the animals and humans are still asleep. It's at this early time of the day that Heidi Bättig (a Swiss young woman, 33 year old) starts her work. She slips into her boots and goes to the barn. First thing she does is to feed the cows and prepare the milking cluster.

We discussed the challenges of youth in ARD and proffered solutions that would be brought before stakeholders at the event. Realizing that all over the world, it is a known fact that youths have a key role to play if given the opportunity and the appropriate platform was a source of hope and a better future to anticipate. We can and would be hands of change to transform the world for better.

I am one of the founding members of YPARD. I am also a promoter of the creation of YPARD European Unit hosted by the Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences (HAFL), and its representation in EFARD, the European Forum in ARD (of which I am vice-chair). I join Oliver when he says he is very proud of the successes YPARD has achieved by now.

I feel privileged to be among the founding members of YPARD. Prior to 2005, we could hardly see young professionals participating in global discussions in ARD. (...) Now in GCARD 2, we were able to provide inputs to the official parallel session on capacity building.(...) These are all inconceivable back in 2000 when the first GFAR Conference was held!

This is what answers Beatriz Vanessa Herrera when asked what is the key to publishing, in a refereed journal such as Food Security, only in her first year as a professional geographer, the article titled Threats to cassava production: known and potential geographic distribution of four key biotic constraints.

This is how Danilo Moreta perceives the constant challenge that being a young researcher means to him. Danilo, an agronomist of the Escuela Agricola Panamericana "Zamorano" in Honduras, has always perceived nature as something mysterious, magical and full of charm, notions which make up much of his motivation for having decided to become a researcher.

When I was a child, my grandfather always talked about his life in Santiago de Chuco – a village located in the highlands of Peru - and how much he wished he hadn’t left it. As a lot of people, my grandparents had to travel to a major city (Trujillo, capital of La Libertad)...

I am happy to being attached with this network as it is lifting up me to connect with international agricultural research organizations, scientists and networks. YPARD is a promising body of young professionals and has the potential to guide career development.

Very often, I am questioned about "Why have you chosen agriculture when you could have done something more interesting and get a stable job?". When I think about it, the only the answer I can get is that I have a passion for it. I have no idea how it happened, but there are many factors that have contributed to it.

"This was my first time to participate in such a high profile meeting however I felt very much a part of the workshop. I must admit though that my interest in foresight was higher compared to the knowledge that I had about foresight which made me a little bit nervous. What I liked most was that my contributions were always solicited and welcomed."

The Entrepreneurial spirit in the youth must be alive always, especially now when there are thousands of opportunities all around us. Youths must have an open and positive mind to be able to overcome the challenges they face in everyday life. There will always be a demand for agricultural activities because of the need for food to satisfy the ever growing population.

"Agriculture in Nigeria and Africa has been neglected in the past years and I advocate that it is time for change. It is time for Youth to invest passionately in agriculture. If each Youth is a producer of an agricultural product be it food crops, animals, poultry, rabbits, grass cutter etc. it would go a long way to contribute to the food basket of our continent."

"I believe that we as Young Professionals in Agricultural Research for Development can have a big impact by thinking about innovative practices, technologies and approaches in our working domains. Therefore I would hereby like to share an example of such an innovative approach to show other YPs how we can increase the effects of our efforts by linking other working domains to our own."

Michael Kwabena Osei is a young scientist from Ghana. His work has been recognized through the Ist Ghana Science Congress Awards in August 2011 where he won a Bronze award (Cash prize, lap top and Citation) as the National Best Young Scientist, initiated by the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST).

Persévérance, amour du travail, patience…Autant de qualités qui ont permis à William Mouachi Kameni, un jeune camerounais, de réussir dans l’Agriculture en 3 ans. Reportage à Douala.

I first entered the YPARD website in early 2011 through a link from CTA’s Knowledge for Development web portal which I explore often. I always see the YPARD logo/icon on the site but continued to ignore it since I did not know what doors it could open for me. After finishing what I was doing on that fateful day, a thought flashed my mind to click on the logo/icon and see what it meant.

« To me, the first benefit expected from discussions about youth in Agricultural Research for Development is sharing experiences and validating observations and hypothesis: are difficulties met by the youth in different regions of the world the same? If so, are the solutions to these issues specific to their context or can we find transversal elements?"

"During the conference I tried visiting the YPARD booth and see what was going on. There I met and spoke with people, young and old who came around. From my discussion with people, I discovered that the fears that motivated and justified the incorporation of YPARD are real and have a global reach."

"I was sponsored by YPARD to attend the CGIAR Science Forum 2011 in Beijing. As a young researcher this gave me the opportunity to express my views on the future of agricultural research at both global and regional levels."

"My long term benefits as YPARD members? First and for most I have created a link with other agricultural extension experts through YPARD e-discussions. This will help me continue interacting with them even after the e-discussions."

" J'ai vraiment apprécié les actions que mène cette plateforme. Je pense que c'est ce genre d'espace dont les jeunes ont besoin pour être des vrais agents de changement."

"I am adventurous and like participating in activities that make a difference in society. In two months of joining YPARD, I got to achieve some of my aspirations. This was in capacity as one of the 12 YPARD representatives at the CGIAR Science Forum in Beijing."

When you interview a young professional in ARD, you can feel his/her great energy, desires, ideas, projects, and dreams that they share with you so spontaneously. This experience let you know that there are young people out there that are committed and thinking in how to make possible a better live, a better planet for their country, their region.

'As a youth in agriculture, YPARD has given me the opportunity to share my ideas on issues related to youth and agriculture on their platform through articles and discussion forums. I have been able to connect with other youths from different countries and backgrounds who have same objective as me, and together, we have been able to voice our opinions on subjects that matter to us to Policy makers at International Conferences.'

I feel that YPARD is opening doors for young researchers all over the world. Their access and exchange of information, network and opportunities between global young professionals is crucial for present and future agricultural developments and policies. YPARD as an international knowledge network offers room for young professionals to voice their ideas which otherwise might not have been heard.

Así responde Édgar Torres cuando se le pregunta por el camino que ha recorrido desde su llegada al CIAT, hace poco más de 10 años, inicialmente para trabajar como enlace entre el Fondo Latinoamericano para Arroz de Riego (FLAR) y la Fundación Nacional del Arroz (Fundarroz), entidad nacional arrocera de Venezuela; hasta su actual responsabilidad como fitomejorador en el programa de Arroz del CIAT.