With successful completion of YPARD Awareness Campaign in agricultural universities of Nepal, YPARD had made a call to working body in Nepal. After series of informal gatherings and discussions, on 7-8 August 2013 YPARD Nepal hosted its first formal meeting including all the local representatives in Rampur, Chitwan making significant decisions for the year round activities.
“YPARD is a global platform; still we don’t show enough impact or action oriented activities. In that spirit, we should bring more action oriented programs for the promotion of YPARD”, Smiriti stressed, in the floor. This is just one local representative’s voice among other testimonials. And indeed, the major purpose of this gathering was to determine together how we can revive knowledge sharing and increase impact of YPARD in our home country.
We divided the first day into sharing of information about YPARD and its objectives; our roles and responsibilities; SWOT analysis and prioritization of agendas. The next day was dedicated to elaborate follow up strategies on prioritized agenda and proposal of year round activities.
In the first day, we used Matrix Priority Method and identified seven different points in our strategic agendas. They were as Dissemination of Information> Program (youth/farmer)> Regional Leadership Distribution> Collaboration> Change/Action Oriented> Mutual Exchange> Capacity Building in highest to lowest priority order.
“By sharing useful information, suggestion, planning and discussion through the group for cooperation and unity among members, we can encourage more people to get involved with YPARD more actively by utilizing their creative calibers from different programs like workshops, capacity enhancement training, seminars, etc. So, here dissemination comes in topmost priority”, Madan said. “Even more we can support this with effective blog posts, equally share them on social media and on Agriculture Nepal website, which is social platform for Nepalese agriculturists”, Bivek added.
Addressing our limitations in reaching out young farmers; “we can make collaboration to the neighbor Village Development Committee (VDC), District Agriculture Office, District Livestock Office, etc. for the betterment of farmers, since farmers are the first and most important stakeholder in agriculture”, Bindu proposed. “We can take farmers interaction programs and delivery of hot issues on ground level like awareness on Bird Flu disease, value of catch crops and nutritional importance of minor or neglected crops which are pretty much strategic to make more impact using less resources while organizing program”, expressed Khem Raj Dahal, advisor of YPARD Nepal from University level.
As a focus for this year program, YPARD Nepal will expand its activities in Narayani Poly-technique Institute and open call for membership to strengthen its working team from IAAS and AFU too. We will start Mushroom Cultivation and Home Gardening in Rampur Campus. YPARD Nepal will make farmer’s field trips and will feature farmers’ successful stories from this. For university level students, we are going to promote youth innovations through “Youth of the month” portraits, starting from this October.
We are a small group but we are expanding both our strengths and members. Meanwhile, we are inviting all the local and national groups and (or) institutions and (or) organizations to collaborate with us in youth and agriculture issues. We are to conduct a national level youth forum on agriculture and forest based entrepreneurship development for this year, and it will be successful with your support. So, please stay with us and bring your valuables suggestions, comments and guidelines. We believe that our activities will significantly serve the youth and promote their key role in agriculture.
On the picture: from left to right Swarnima KC, Sapana Ghimire, Bindu Bhandari, Swikriti Pandey, Smiriti Limbu, Madan Poudel, Bivek Mahat, Dinesh Panday with Assoc. Prof. Khem Raj Dahal in central back.