YPARD welcomes Olawale Ojo as the New YPARD Representative for Nigeria.
You most probably know Olawale already, through YPARD Community Blog and Social Media, where he has been very active. Olawale was one of our YP of the Month last year, sharing his success story. He also belonged to the social reporters team at GCARD2; learn more about his experience.
Olawale OJO is a dynamic and forward thinking person who graduated from the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria, with a Degree in Agricultural Engineering. He also had training experience at the Songhai Centre, Porto-Novo Benin Republic in Integrated Farming systems.
This training experience really made him passionate about agriculture and, most especially, about the role youth plays, in creating development. They can empower themselves and provide livelihood by engaging in Agribusiness. Olawale strongly believes in the development & opportunities in Agriculture for young professionals throughout the food and supply chain.
Olawale started up a Social Enterprise: Agropreneur Nigeria; he has continued to engage in agricultural advocacy and capacity building through the social media outlet of his organisation and its workshop series called COOL to FARM. Thus he helps youth on a daily basis see the opportunities opened to them in agriculture and agribusiness. Besides, Olawale supports his parent in running their pig farm.
As YPARD Country Representative, Olawale plans to strategically increase the membership in Nigeria and more importantly, actively engage the youth in programs & projects that will empower Young Nigerian professionals in the agricultural sector.
He would engage members through Local Representatives to develop activities, programs and projects that would be exemplary and showcase that agriculture, agricultural research and related fields are viable career options for youths, and that they can find success therein.
Olawale would also open doors for partnership with relevant bodies and organisations that would help ensure the voice of young people in ARD are heard in strategic and policy debates both at Local and National Level.
YPARD members will spread and build upon the goals & essence of YPARD in relation to young researchers, agriculturists, farmers & community development per locality.
We warmly welcome Olawale and we are glad to make official his strong commitment with YPARD.
We would like to thank Obadina Adewale, former Representative for Nigeria, for his hard work in building awareness about YPARD in some universities. We hope he will stay involved as active advisor in view to his experience.