“In the past decades, organic agriculture was often reacting late to changes in contemporary agriculture and developments were often only visible to farmers as adaptations of the guidelines” says Robert Obrist, Head of the Section of Education and Extension at FiBL (Research Institute for Organic Agriculture) in Frick, Switzerland. He leads our group on the 25th of August through the area... More

The Global Landscapes Forum is giving a central place to young professionals by kicking its 2days event with a TedX-style youth session – “Youth: The Future of Sustainable Landscapes” - on the very first morning - 16 November - at the UNFCC COP19, in Warsaw, Poland. About 8 inspirational speakers will take the floor on-site to discuss the issues and actions... More

by Marina Cherbonnier and Courtney Paisley Youth are sometimes asked to provide their input into the big issues in the landscapes sector (agriculture, forestry, fisheries, conservation, development, industry, climate change), but let’s face it — this input often stays on the sidelines and rarely influences the ‘real’ decisions that are being made. We’re hoping to change this by providing a platform... More

YPARD organized a two day preparatory meeting for the YPARD external review, on 18-19 September 2013. The Global Coordination Unit met the two consultants who are conducting the review.The objective of the review is to evaluate the progress of YPARD (with emphasis on the last four years since the external review of 2009) but also to determine the areas to be... More

About 3 billion ha. of land (equivalent to near to 41% of the earth's land) are dry, says an article by the CGIAR Dryland Systems research program CRP 1.1. Furthermore the program states that within a population close to 2.5 billion in dry areas, 16 percent of the population is extremely poor. The CRP1.1 focuses on populations of the dry areas... More

YPARD is delighted to welcome Madhu Sudhan Ghimire as Social Media Intern. Madhu will be working on spreading the word and animating YPARD social media channels on Facebook page and group, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. He will be working remotely from Nepal some 10-15 hours a week. Madhu is a young nepalese student enrolled in a BSc. Agriculture at Tribhuwan... More

It was my first time out of Nigeria to join other youths across Africa in a very important topic: Agriculture and entrepreneurship! It was the iHAV Foundation conference held on the 24th – 27th July, 2013 at Africana Guest House Accra, Ghana involving youths between the ages of 18 – 28 years coming together to listen to and interact on ways... More

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2013), the national unemployment rate is 23.9 percent with the youth accounting for more than 70 percent. Increased involvement of youth in agricultural activities will help reduce the problems of the ageing farm population and increasing youth unemployment. Nigeria’s government has attempted to stimulate youth’s interest in agricultural production and processing since the... More

It is imperative for any entrepreneurial youth to be a pioneer user of a technological innovation to reap its maximum benefit. The same is true for youth in agriculture. Adopting and implementing new agricultural technological advances, especially when eco-friendly does seem to promote a promising future. Fair trade regimes and organic agricultural systems are two innovations that increasingly play an important... More

Have you heard about the GLF COP19 Social Media BootCamp Program organised by CGIAR (the Global Agricultural Research Partnership) in cooperation with The Global Landscapes Forum ? In the frame of their continuous support to young professionals in the field of agriculture, CGIAR has waived the entry fee for 2 YPARD members (US$1,400). Mind, Candidates will still have to fund their... More

Plants are feeding the world and without (modern) agriculture the world could feed only 4 million people. But will we find the solution for feeding 9.5 billion people in 2050? It seems that intensifica­tion is not the answer, as enough food is produced globally, natural resources are getting scarcer and the current status of human food security is highly controversial: about... More

By Courtney Paisley and Marina Cherbonnier YPARD was extremely active in this years' AASW.  From identifying many excellent active youths for participation, organising a YPARD side event, participating and contributing to other AASW side sessions to social reporting of the event on-site and online.  The three side events with a strong youth component include the Gender and Youth Side Event, the... More

In the viewpoint of economic analyst, today's world can be divided into developed and developing countries with significant differences as in development of science and technology,'' shared by Prof. Dayananda Bajracharya, former vice-chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology(NAST). The key element holds with adequate scientific discussions to affect the positive change. And here are silver linings; scientific symposium organized... More

YPARD is delighted to welcome Rahel Wyss as the new Country Representative for Switzerland. Because of new intense professional paths, Johanna has decided to hand over her role as YPARD Switzerland representative to another Young Professional. Read her testimonial about her experience with YPARD. Rahel Wyss has been already fully involved with YPARD in Switzerland; she substituted Johanna at a SFIAR... More

ETH Zurich World Food System Center (WFSC) successfully organized Summer School “Sustainable Agriculture and the World Food System” in August 10th-25th, 2013 in Rheinau, Switzerland. 24 graduate students and young professionals from 14 different countries, and a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds relevant to the world food system participated this summer school. YPARD Switzerland Representative Rahel Wyss and YPARD China... More

Starting a business is difficult. There is a lot to know and do, it is exhausting and expensive, and there are many moving parts. On top of that, as you also know only too well, money is usually tight. How do you balance the financial needs of renting space, hiring staff, building a brand, and launching a business? It's almost like deciding which of... More

We are currently witnessing a second urbanization wave. By 2050, the large majority of the additional 3 billion people will live in Asian and African medium-sized cities. Pressures will be the greatest where the urban and institutional infrastructure is the weakest. Many of the cities that will be created do not even exist yet. Many of the ones that do exist... More

YPARD is delighted to welcome Mohamed Sippo as YPARD Sierra Leone representative. Mohamed shares with us his inspiration and what led him to work for youth in agriculture’s empowerment and to become YPARD representative. “When I worked with RESTLESS DEVELOPMENT a leading youth led Organization in Sierra Leone, I realized that youths are the solutions to problems and are not the... More

YPARD is glad to welcome Eric MAVARUGANDA as YPARD Burundi representative. Eric MAVARUGANDA is passionate about rural areas with major concern about agricultural development in Africa. He is convinced that rural areas can be attractive even more than urban centers. Therefore he created an organization in Burundi gathering rural youth : the JRCPF (la jeunesse rurale en action contre la pauvreté et la... More

Today in International Youth Day 2013 I would like to dedicate this post to all of my peers, the young professionals aspiring to become someone in the ICT4D field.  In his latest blog, Ken Banks from Kiwanja.net makes a very strong, yet realistic, criticism of the ICT4D field. According to him, over a decade has gone by with very little significant change in the field, and questions... More