The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are global index to measure national development in areas such as economic growth, environmental issues, human capital development, food security and health, and many more. The Goal Keepers initiative is one of the index established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established to track progress on SDGs and support implementation through policies and activities directed... More

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,... More

During my visit to Armenia, I met with Anna, YPARD representative for Armenia at her lovely venture, located some 40 km from Yerevan. Anna leads a socially responsible enterprise that produces dried fruits. She works closely with about 300 families in a region, from whom she buys raw material. Annas’ business has created 30 workplaces for villagers, especially women, while their husbands... More

This was the motto of the International Seminar for leaders of rural youth work in "Herrsching am ammersee" in Bavaria, Munich-Germany 2019. Almost 80 young professionals from almost 50 countries around the world attended this seminar, where they shared with each other their knowledge and experiences. At the same time, they worked together to gain Leadership knowledge and skills. They also... More

For the past few years, YPARD and its partner organizations have conducted a series of activities to support young people in agriculture. Our mission is to enable and empower young agricultural leaders shaping sustainable food systems. To achieve this we have our members at heart, who are encouraged to become active voices for the youth in their respective fields and organizations... More

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... More

We are delighted to welcome the incoming YPARD Azerbaijan communications focal point Ramil Azmammadov.  Ramil studied a BA in Agriculture Management and MA in Management of Production Systems at Azerbaijan State Agriculture University. While he studied MA in Management of Production Systems, he received a scholarship from the Hungarian Republic and FAO to study a second master's degree in Hungary. In... More

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... More

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... More

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... More

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... More

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... More

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... More

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... More

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... More

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... More

To enable young professionals as key influencers that drive sustainable food systems is a key role of YPARD as a global youth network. For this reason, YPARD interacts with different organizations that drive sustainable food agenda through their works.  The Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) and the European Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development (Agrinatura) are two of YPARD’s partner that fall... More

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... More

We are delighted to welcome the incoming YPARD steering committee member: Keron Bascombe.  Keron is the creator of Tech4Agri and holds a Bachelor in Agribusiness from the University of the West Indies. Keron created Tech4Agri in 2011 as a blog which featured stories in tech, innovation and success in Caribbean agriculture & other parts of the world.  This went on to... More

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... More