In Italy, there are a few strong organizations focused on paving the way for young people to start and keep working within the agricultural sector. Coldiretti Giovani Impresa is one of them.
Coldiretti Giovani Impresa works mainly with young Italian farmers whereas YPARD Italy has started to create a network between young professional working or aiming to work within agriculture. Thus, when YPARD met with the Coldiretti Giovani Impresa representative for the first time in 2016 at the last GCARD3 event in Johannesburg, as YPARD Italy, we knew our joint collaboration could contribute in boosting young people’s inclusion in agriculture.
Thus, creating an alliance between both agricultural platforms could and will create a stronger and more deeply connected network involving Italian young farmers and young professionals.
To further our collaboration, Coldiretti organised an event dubbed Oscar Green and i had the chance to present what YPARD Italy does to the audience of young Coldiretti’s farmers who expressed their interest to concretize this future partnership. Ypard Italy will thus strengthen its network and will be able to connect effectively in its country the young farmers’ reality with that of young professionals in agriculture. Moreover, Ypard Italy will benefit from Coldiretti’s decennial experience in guiding youth within the agricultural sector through workshops where young professionals will learn directly from young farmers how to do agriculture in a more sustainable and innovative way.
In this direction YPARD Italy would also like to support another Italian activity aiming to put in contact producers, controllers and consumers at a retailing level to contribute to a higher level of transparency within food supply chains. The company Artin2 will do this by certifying the origin and the provenience of the final product that can be known by using the app named “yourefresh” (food monitored from space) . To do so, Artin2 uses a satellite system already applied by NASA to geolocalise the farm as well as to monitorate its condition. Therefore, from our devices we will be able to control the position and the production methods applied by any company that enters into a market.
The app will be used by consumers to scan a QR code available on the goods packaging that will also allow to have access to the Fresh community where they can not only find logistical information of the farm (or enterprise) producing it but also, opinions, advice and comments made by other consumers. By the new year, “yourfresh” will also illustrate if the production of the final good have included phytosanitary or pesticides substances and in which quantity.
The company Artin2 would like to test this app also in other countries, therefore they are searching for farmers (or producers) and consumers willing to implement this system. If interested, further information can be found at http://artin2.weebly.com/
Photo courtesy: Oscar Green