COP18, the 18th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was taking place from November 26 to December 7, 2012 in Doha, Qatar. Two events were particularly related to agriculture: “Forest day” and “Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day”, December 2 and 3, 2012. Agriculture needed to have its space at... More

Among the many highlights of my participation at the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2)  with the theme FORESIGHT AND PARTNERSHIP FOR INNOVATION AND IMPACT ON SMALL-HOLDER LIVELIHOODS at Punta del Este, Uruguay on 29th October to November 1, 2012, one experience that I would not forget very quickly was the visit to the Solari Family Farm in... More

YPARD Team wishes every each of you a Happy New Year! We would like to give a big thanks to all of you who helped us make 2012 a big success.  It was a great year for youth in ARD and building of a stronger YPARD.  We look forward to working with all of you for an active and successful 2013,... More

YPARD China representative, Jieying Bi, came to visit YPARD Global Coordination Unit at the occasion of her attending to the conference on International Scientific Symposium on Food and Nutrition Security Information, FAO, January 2012. Jieying Bi is research assistant at CAAS. She was nominated YPARD China representative by the end of 2011. Bi has worked on having an active China focal... More

COP18, huge conference on climate change, will kick off from November 26 to December 7, 2012 in Doha, Qatar. Two events are particularly related to agriculture: Forest day and Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day, December 2 and 3 (organized by CGIAR). As we have learned during GCARD2, special media gives us the opportunity to engage, to get the voice heard of... More

It is generally believed that field survey is a vital and basic way to conduct research and for the preparation of polices. We (International Division of Agricultural Information Institute, CAAS) did several long time and large geographical span field surveys in the past years. The study “Improving nutrition, food safety and food security for China’s most vulnerable women and children” was conducted in 2010-2012 by the United... 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

YPARD is glad to welcome our very first YPARD Nepal representative, Dinesh Panday! Dinesh Panday has a B.Sc. in Agriculture (2011) from the Tribhuvan University (TU), in Nepal. He is currently enrolled as Research Assistant in Soil Science Division of Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), Nepal. His areas of research interest include soil fertility, sustainable soil management and geographical information system... More

“Agribusiness, Cool business” were the words on the lips of the 39 youths that came together in Akure Ondo state Nigeria on the 21st of November 2012 to be part of the COOL TO FARM Workshop series by Agropreneur Nigeria and the OAC-Agro Advocacy Initiative. The main purpose of the workshop was to show to the youth that agriculture can be... More

We solicited you to integrate COP18 debates related to agriculture some days ago: Youth, agriculture and COP18: Time to engage! We shared a number of hints on  how to get involved from your seat: Youth, agriculture and COP18: HOW to engage NOW! Still not quite clear on what you can do concretely? Still in the phase of letting others speak for... More

YPARD was invited by CTA to participate to its Strategic Youth Stakeholder Workshop from 14th to 16th November 2012 in Wageningen, The Netherlands. A group of around 25 young professionals, coming from Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP), and other partners among which FANRPAN, FAO and IFAD, were gathered – all, working on Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development. CTA workshop’s objective... More

Last week I was representing the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to give the Inaugural lecture on ‘Animal production systems and markets in developing countries’ at INP Toulouse Purpan’s Eurama MSc in European Animal Management. Indeed, I have recently joined the Changing demand and market institutions Team at ILRI. I am particularly pleased that my second mission for ILRI was so... More

COP18 for Dummies COP18 is the 18th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They meet annually to assess progress in dealing with climate change. There are now 195 parties to the convention taking part in climate change negotiations. All parties to the UNFCCC are represented at the COP. During... More

The Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD 2012) brought together all groups of stakeholders: from researchers to donors such as the FAO, EC or IFAD, to farmers organizations or the private sector. The surprise at the conference co-organized by GFAR and the CGIAR Consortium was the recognition of the role that young professionals play in AR4D. For the... More

It all started off as a challenge for a young group of social media enthusiasts that wanted to give a voice to young professionals in agricultural research for development (ARD) at the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD 2012). From all walks of life, young spirited people have gathered between October 25th and November 2nd 2012 in Punta... More

YPARD, the Young Professionals' Platform for Agricultural Research for Development, as a core community of young professionals for young professionals in ARD, was given particular attention as mechanism through which supporting the youth from GCARD2 roadmap to implementation. Empowering Youth capacity building for ARD The dedicated session on empowering youth and women through capacity building (C2.2) comes naturally as the most... More

6 months ago, Sabina and Nawsheen were taking the challenge to start a remote internship of around 10 hours a week with YPARD. Sabina, Tri-lingual Star! Sabina was working on translations of key documents, communications products and articles in English, French and Spanish. She benefitted of the supervision of French and Spanish mother language speakers able to reflect the texts within... More

On the 8th – 9th of October, The European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) Steering Committee (SC) Meeting took place at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, School for Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL). As the European Coordination of YPARD is hosted by HAFL, I’ve got the chance to participate the meeting as a substitute of Codrin Paveliuc-Olariu.... More

The GCARD2 communication team shared with us few numbers about GCARD2 coverage. "Giving space and voice to participants who did not travel to Uruguay; advocating the importance of agriculture in achieving a food secure future; and building capacities of young professionals, the leaders of tomorrow, to have a voice in shaping the world they will live in, were the three objectives... More

Setting the scene Between 16 and 20 Young people present flesh&bones at GCARD2 YPARD pre-event session. Some of them leave shortly to pop-up in other pre-event sessions related to their field of expertise or regional activities. Many of them are also GCARD2 Social reporting trainees. Laptop in hands, they replace the traditional note-taking to tweeting! So, to this bunch of YPs,... More