As humans we can learn critical lessons from the experiences of fellow humans in agriculture science and natural resource management especially as the world has become “complex, chaotic, and contested”.  YPARD Zimbabwe is excited for the chance to speak to Miss Forget Shareka on her career in agricultural science and natural resources management.  One lesson is this: We must fight to... More

Imagine this scenario: What would the theory and practice of agriculture be like without any new ideas?  And what is an idea?  I don’t know. I am fixed on finding the answer.         An idea is “something” which enters the human’s conscious and subconscious mind and later gets worked on  through several complicated processes, to become what can... More

From 24th – 26th August, 2016, YPARD Zimbabwe took part in the Zimbabwe Youth Agripreneurship Summit 2016 an event  organized by the Zimbabwe Farmers Union at ZESA Training Centre, Belvedere, Harare, Zimbabwe. As the YPARD Zimbabwe Country Representative, I took part in the event both as a presenter and as a facilitator with a focus on youth and climate change. My presentation Putting... More

Agriculture is at crossroads.  There are many positive and negative changes taking place in the sector each day, all of which require that collective solutions be sought by the young and the old people. Higher education plays a critical role in training the next generation of scientists and agriculture professionals, as shown by the interview below, with a young professional in... More

Social and networking events bring to the forefront important personal and professional relationships which are useful to organizations. While some won’t get you anywhere, others could become the source of endless innovation and development. Through those connections that do flourish, young people can be catalysts to solve big issues in their countries.  With this in mind, two events held in Harare,... More

There is a growing recognition that we have reached a tipping point when it comes to ideas on how best to engage young people or youths to be conscious and responsible global citizens in various disciplines. Today, sustainable development and the green economy are the new focus of research, education, and development in most countries albeit they are new terms for... More

“Humans like to confront the unknown” (Bruce Alberts) Not long ago, philosophy embodied the length, breadth and width of inquiry and investigation culminating to knowledge. Advancements in human progress gave birth to the fragmentation of the body of knowledge into disciplines – natural and social sciences. Deference to budget cuts, time lines and polarity in commitments  as now in the U.S.... More

The subject of youth migration brings to mind a number of points to debate on. Here, I postulate that in its initial stages, youth migration appears to be in response to fault lines within one’s own governance system. This could be as a result of a breakdown of social services and unfavourable socio-economic and political conditions. In the mature stages, youth... More

  As the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW6) prepares to take its place in the agribusiness narrative of Africa, I offer some personal reflections on the significance of the event. Firstly, the implementation and evaluation plan laid out by FARA and its partners for the fourth pillar of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) is perhaps one of the event’s... More

“Africa now needs desperately to redesign its self-image, create an environment of peace and stability and plan a new science-led future appropriate to its culture, needs and aspirations. In essence, it must become Africa-centered.” Thomas R.Odhiambo, 1993 The forthcoming 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW) comes at an opportune time for Africa. The event poises the continent to surpass earlier generations in... More

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... More

By Raymond Erick Zvavanyange Recently, I attended a roving seminar hosted by the University Of Zimbabwe Department Of Physics in association with Agromet Vision of the Netherlands from 19-21 March, 2013. The speaker was Professor C. Kees Stigter of the International Association of Agricultural Meteorology and Agromet Vision of The Netherlands. Previous seminars were held under the title "Operational Agrometeorology: Reaching... More

Pan African Youth Conference on Learning for Sustainability was held at Silver Springs Hotel, in Nairobi, Kenya on January 30 to 31, 2013 The Conference brought together ‘young’ minds involved in sustainable development (SD) and green economy (GE) throughout Africa. The Conference theme was “Empowering Youths for Sustainable Development”. It was organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) programme... More

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.... More

?Opinion: Consolidating youth voices in agriculture  By Raymond Erick Zvavanyange  Youths have diversified agriculture, thanks to information and communication technologies (ICTs) which are leading numerous initiatives. Youths are benefiting through start-ups, mobile communities, and through a voice. The voice is precisely a lobbying and advocacy when it’s well-intentioned. Fifty or so years ago, lobbying or advocacy was likely a policy maker’s... More

 Disclaimer: *Account is of the YPARD Zimbabwe representative and not of the AVRDC  AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center, Taiwan held an Open Day at its headquarters recently on May 18, 2012. Participants from the island of Taiwan braced the rainy weather to witness, share, and give feed back on the center’s work. AVRDC theme for the day was “Collaboration: The... More

Demonstration in extension and rural advisory services   By Raymond Erick Zvavanyange   Key message The article offers practitioners the recommendation to revisit demonstration in extension and rural advisory service delivery.   A fundamental missing In preparation of my contribution to the YPARD/GFRAS e-discussion on extension/rural advisory services and young professionals, I re-read my previous article titled “Fundamentals of Agricultural Extension”... More

Niche, Learners and Learning Institutions By Raymond Erick Zvavanyange   Key Message  The short article suggests basic advice for learners. The aim is to inspire readers to grasp the role of learning institutions as they seek to discover, fit and “enjoy” their niche.   Learning Cycles, Behavior and Networks Learners go through many phases in learning processes. Upon completion of studies,... More

Key Message: The article looks at what makes researchers who they are in view of the countless hours spent in rigorous scientific debates, experiment, practice, inquiry, and solitary periods putting ideas together to form a cohesive idea. The article can be read here. 

Opportunistic priorities hindering progress in Ecoagriculture  Raymond Erick Zvavanyange1 1National Chung Hsing University 250 Kuo Kuang Road Taichung 402 Taiwan, R.O.C   Key Message The article discusses two aspects in the ecoagriculture strategy: key points needed to make the ecoagriculture strategy successful and the missing links in realization of this strategy.      Introduction The world population continues to grow unabated... More