In a bid to ensure diverse representation of young people in various executive meetings and committees, the Global Coordination Unit has nominated Flor as the YPARD representative in the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) the Capacity Development expert group. But I guess you are thinking, what is TAP CD Expert group? TAP Capacity Development Group Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) is a coalition... More

Asia Open Access Dhaka 2019, was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on March 6-7, hosted by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) in association with Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR). In the conference, six technical sessions and one concluding and recommendation session were included. During the two-day program, a special seminar and workshop on open access and open science, open education: focus on... More

Blessings Likagwa has a passion for farming. The 29-year-old farmer from Kasungu, Malawi was recently recognized by the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards – Africa for his work using data from drones to implement climate smart improvements on his maize farm, and inspiring other local farmers to do the same. Blessings is the first ever winner in the “farmer” category of the awards.... More

For a year now, YPARD Serbia has been trying to promote its achievements through web and TV media. That led us to many partnerships and support by young farmers and associations. By the end of April, we got a call from “eKapija” reporter, a very followed web portal in Serbia, to have an interview about YPARD Serbia and young farmers in... More

I (Monika Varga, YPARD Hungary country representative) had a chance to participate at the 4th World Congress on Agroforestry, organized in Montpellier, France, between May 20-22, 2019. This is a short report and an introduction to the main messages of the conference. In line with the slogan of the Congress (“Make our planet treed again!”), the dedicated aims were to spread... More

Nelson Owoicho is a university graduate born and raised in Nigeria. He is a strategic communication and multimedia professional with years of cross-sectoral experience cutting across communication, agricultural development, social development, education, youth engagement and advocacy. He is currently enrolled with the International Institute of Journalism, Nigeria for a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism. Nelson holds a certificate in social sector... More

In August 2017, after joining the Facebook group of Bangladesh Fisheries Community, I learned about two days long training program/ workshop on aquaponics (the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics) under the supervision of Dr M. A. Salam, Professor from Aquaculture Department at Bangladesh Agricultural University, and interested people were invited to contact there.  I was quite curious before this training because... More

We are proud to announce our second Ruralist Youth School.  This is an initiative that YPARD Peru has been working on since 2016 when the first Ruralist Youth School took place. This event is confirmed by eleven sessions (four of them have already taken place). The major themes that have been studied so far are key points on agrarian rural development,... More

As a bachelor’s student in food technology (3rd Year) in Pokhara Bigyan Tatha Prabidhi Campus, Nepal, it was not so easy to perform the statistical test and use the excel software. Recently, I attended the training program; basic level training on excel, spss, design expert and endnote, organized by Nepal Food Technology Students Association (NEFTSA), supported by Pokhara Bigyan Tatha Prabidhi... More

It is no news that Africa has one of the largest growing populations and from this expansion, Sub-Saharan Africa’s labour force is also expanding at a rate of 3 percent per year with an additional 375 million young people expected to reach working age by 2035. From these emerging figures and trends, the fact remains that agriculture is key to Africa’s... More

The tale of Africa is a sweet one that captivates the mind. I vividly remember while growing up, my history teacher explicitly told us the stories of different African countries, leaders and Africa’s wealth of resources. In another class, my agricultural science teacher knew how to trigger discussion on the green African pasture and the African green revolutionary movement. The first... More

We are delighted to welcome the new YPARD France communications focal point:  Isaline Réguer Isaline is pursuing a Master’s degree in Agronomy in Bordeaux Sciences Agro, in France. She is specializing in Territorial Economy and Agricultural Development. Her goal is to work with a holistic approach to enhance and strengthen agricultural practices and policies better for the environment and for human well-being.... More

We are delighted to welcome the new YPARD Sri Lanka country representative Pilana Harshana Pilana Vithana Sajith Harshana is currently a lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture at University of Ruhuna Sri Lanka. He graduated with a bachelors in agribusiness management (honours) with a specialization in agricultural economics from the Department of Agricultural Economics, at same university... More

Agriculture in Africa has a massive social and economic footprint to improve livelihoods and grow the economy. More than 60 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are smallholder farmers, with over 50 percent of the continent’s population falling below age 30. Also, about 23 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP comes from agriculture. Yet, Africa’s full agricultural potential remains hugely untapped.... More

There is a lot of innovation in the mobile/IT, agricultural machinery and energy spaces that have the potential to make a huge impact on the farm and in the agribusiness sub-sector. For example, smart power systems, superior processing machines, precision agriculture tools, farm management software, and affordable sensors are all within reach of even the smallest farmers today. Ultimately, we think... More

Since the ndependence of Tajikistan, almost three decades have passed since the first collective-farm system (USSR agricultural system) broke up.  The agricultural world in all developed countries has stepped far forward. However, some Tajik (Tajikistan is a Central Asian country) agricultural farmers are still afraid of innovations in this system and refuse to introduce any innovations on their land plots. The... More

About 60 youths from across Africa  gathered in Accra, Ghana, last week, for a 3-day agricultural engagement workshop themed: “Strategic Engagements and Capacity Development of Youth in Agri-preneurship for Technology Adoption,” aimed at leveraging shared experiences of youths to develop a framework for youth engagement with a focus on inclusive agripreneurship development. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization... More

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in collaboration with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) hosting more than sixty young men and women, involved in diverse agricultural value chains, at the FARA Secretariat in Accra. The participants have been drawn from twenty-six countries across the region. The three-day workshop is being organized as part of FARA’s efforts to... More

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa`s agricultural engagement workshop on the theme: “Strategic Engagements and Capacity Development of Youth in Agri-prenuership for Technology Adoption,” and scheduled for May 2-4 2019 has commenced in Accra, Ghana. The three-day workshop is being co-hosted by FARA with Young Professionals in Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD) in partnership with African Development Bank (AfDB); West and... More

Can you imagine the feeling of craving a kind of food which is scarce in the world that you are living in? I’ve been there and I did have that feeling. This is the story of Ny Veit, a young agricultural professional who went from being an orphan with a bachelor’s degree on food science in Cambodia to becoming an Erasmus... More