The main purpose of the discussion was to help students develop their career plan, information exchange and networking between professional agronomists and students, demonstrate the skills needed to obtain jobs in the agricultural sector and also to inform students about YPARD and explain how they can benefit from it. The events keynote speech was What strategies should be followed by young professionals to be employed in the agricultural sector in Kosovo. The discussion was monitored by Nol Krasniqi, a member of YPARD Kosovos working team. In the very beginning of the event, YPARDs platform was presented to more than fifty students to whom we explained how they could benefit by YPARD.
The keynote speakers at the event were Mr. Armend Malazogu - a successful businessman and one of the most famous people in the agricultural sector of Kosovo, Mr. Fatmir Selimi from USAID was there to talk to students about USAID projects and how young professionals can benefit from them, Mrs. Lumta Dida - an agronomist who worked in many important institutions such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agriculture faculty at the University of Prishtina. Mr. Nazmi Zeqiri from Recura Agro Center was also there to advise students on what they should do to be successful as consultants.
A new kind of discussion in Kosovo for the youth in agriculture
This was the first event organized by YPARD Kosovo and probably it was the first discussion ever made of this kind in the country. Young people in Kosovo need orientation maybe more than anything else, as they need to know what skills are required for specific jobs in agriculture. While YPs, especially in the agriculture sector, are dealing with unemployment problems, the private companies in Kosovo now prefer to employ foreign experts. Thus, what the youth in Kosovo must do is to raise their own expertise to meet the requirements of the fast-changing labor market and such discussions as this event are important to communicate and connect young professionals in the field and together tackle the obstacles that the agriculture sector is facing.