I still remember when I had just graduated from the University in 2008 and a company called me to meet for an interview to fill a Farm Supervisor's position. The first question I was asked was: “What is agriculture?”, and I immediately responded “agriculture is life”. The panel’s members that conducted the interview looked into each other's eyes and I smiled... More

Conserving a clean and healthy environment for all Pakistanis has been the main’s day issue. In our daily lives, we are starting to face some problems that our past generations did not have. Nowadays, no one is free from getting ill by consuming water which is impure or getting no water at all due to lack of rain. Besides this, the population’s rate... More

Several days have passed since the first online training session was launched for YPARD China. However, it has left its imprint on the everyday activities of the newly four recruited young Web Interns. The one-hour training session, delivered by Marina Cherbonnier, YPARD Web and Communications Manager, and organized by Bi Jieying, YPARD Asia Coordinator as well as China representative, offered all... More

YPARD Pakistan LR Team Hyderabad visited the mega event of Hari Mela (Farmers’ Festival), organized by the Sindh Agriculture University in the town of Tando Jam in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). YPARD-Pakistan LR Hyderabad, Mr. Abdul Sattar, along with Mr. Abdul Jabbar (CEO of Al Mehran Rural Development Organization) and Rafique Wassan (LR –Communication & Fundraising) attended... More

From March, 26 to 30, the 3rd Training Course of CSA & the Family Farm is held successfully in Beijing cosponsored by YPARD China, attracting students from different universities, potential donors interested in ecological agriculture, and farmers with their own farms developing at different stages.                                                                       (Group photo of CSA 3 members) Sponsored by the Rural Reconstruction Centre of Renmin University, the Institute of Rural Reconstruction of Southwest University in China and YPARD China, this year’s training course is held in the Little Donkey Farm and the Liang Shuming Rural Reconstruction Center (LRRC) and has invited many professionals and experts to give lessons, such as Professor Wen Tiejun, the executive dean of the Institute of Rural Reconstruction of Southwest University. The course provides a platform for all participants to know the latest policies and trends of domestic and international agricultural development, study theories and pragmatic methods in CSA and family farms and exchange experience, etc. As an international movement aiming at helping young professionals in agriculture, YPARD and its branches around the world have always been committed to providing funds for young people in need. This time, 3 trainees, namely Li Enle from Anhui Agricultural University, Cai Wenbing from the Institute of Rural Reconstruction of Southwest University and Weng Zudeng from Dongfang College, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, are lucky to get support from YPARD China. As awardees of the YPARD China sponsorship, they may have harvested the most from this training.  Li Enle said, “During these 5 days, I knew the CSA situation in China, I knew the problems in running CSA model and how to solve them, and the most important thing is that I’ ve made a lot of new friends from various walks of life.” “During the training, what impresses me most is that all of us reach consensus on agriculture: we should continue to be passionate about the rural areas, be... More

A joint PhD course called “Assessing transformation in smallholder agricultural systems and Natural Resources” took place in December 2013 and January 2014. The course, organized by the Agricultural Transformation by Innovation (AgTraIn) and the Agricultural and Rural Innovations (ARI) programmes, involved more than 40 PhD students from 23 nationalities who are completing the research in 9 different universities. The two-month on-line... More

The Agricultural Transformation by Innovation (AgTraIn) Programme is one of the Erasmus Mundus PhD programmes. Its main objective is to train the future researchers and professionals within the topics of successful sustainable development and transformation of farming systems in the developing world. The scope ranges from the technical aspects of agricultural production, over post-harvest management, processing and value-addition, to market access... More

Agricultural development specialists and policymakers around the world are concerned that young people are not interested in remaining in rural areas and taking up farming. Agriculture is rarely the first choice of many who study it. Agriculture holds no prestige and young people taking it up as a livelihood are not considered success stories in their communities. While there will always... More

“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people do not recognize." Ann Landers. Opportunities lies in problems, perceptions are mere feelings towards problems. Passing over opportunities repeatedly makes one poor. Then, let’s explore few opportunities and perceptions together. To have an occasion in agriculture or agribusiness does not just mean using hoes and cutlasses to sow the seeds in... More

Nepal is a landlocked country that lies along the southern slopes of the Himalayan mountain ranges. It rises from as low as 59 metres to 8,848 metres and the weather varies from warm to freezing temperatures depending on the diverse areas, which favours the growth of different plants all around the country. Due to its unique geographical position and altitude variation,... More

YPARD Asia has recently welcomed a young group of new interns from different parts of China, one of which is based in Taiwan. These trainees have been recruited by YPARD China, which has been offering a strong support to YPARD Asia, and they are in charge of collecting, publishing and publicizing news on YPARD Asia, as well as launching the Chinese... More

We are delighted to welcome YPARD Representative for Pakistan: Shahla Salah Shahla is a brilliant, energetic, passionate and inspiring young woman in Agriculture.  She tells us more about her and addresses this message: “I belong to the valley of greenery field of rice wheat, sugarcane, maize, fruits, fountain & endless mountains. I still remember those innocent days of my childhood when I was... More

Cassava is one of the most popular and widely consumed food crops in Africa thanks to its versatility. Due to the importance of this food in the region, it is commonly referred to as a cornerstone of food security in Africa. The competing needs for cassava cut across both human and animal consumption. Besides, it is fastly becoming a popular raw... More

“Without agriculture we are going nowhere, no farmer, no future”. This is how Kolo Juliana, one of the IITA Youth Agripreneurs organizers, stated the relevance of fostering agriculture among the youth. “Now that they have been trained, she added, they can go back to their places and impart the knowledge among other youth”. Under the slogan of “A youth to youth... More

We are delighted to welcome our very first YPARD Country representative for Azerbaijan: Nizami Imamverdiyev.  Nizami is an economist, with a Bachelor degree in Economic Theory from Baku State University, Azerbaijan. As a student he was a board member of the European Youth Organization AEGEE-Baku for six months in 2008. After finishing his Bachelor degree he did a Master in Economics... More

Last week a diverse group of people came together at the farm Veld & Beek in the Netherlands: young farmers, future farmers, old farmers, people from farming organisations and lots of press. They came to hear the story of Joel Salatin, according to Time Magazine the world’s most innovative farmer. Joel’s latest book – Fields of Farmers – deals with the... More

I recently had the opportunity to assist to a farmers’ meeting who came from different towns of Tanzania (Morogoro, Dodoma, Ruvuma and Iringa). Most of the farmers are struggling to expand their farm plots, as well as to plant seeds that could endure bad weather and produce higher yield. Since it is easier to get loans, some of them agreed that... More

Have you ever found yourself in the situation in which you wanted to submit a funding proposal to support your  participation to an event but you were not successful in the end? If yes, keep reading. Getting sponsorship is not an easy task, especially when it comes to attending international conferences. It is usually a lengthy process for which you start... More

  Between 28-30 May 2014, the IITA Youth Agripreneur (IYA) and the Young Professional in Agricultural Development (YPARD) Nigeria will celebrate the Youth in Agribusiness Development Initiative (YADI) Workshop. In order to engage on-site participants, reach out to a wider audience remotely and promote the YADI Project Conceptualization Workshop, both organizations are putting together a Remote Social Reporting Team. This volunteer... More

“It felt really good - like a privilege; it felt humbling; youth felt empowered, integrated, and they sensed collaboration was possible between young people and senior professionals, for tackling major forestry issues where youth can help drive solutions.” Yi Ying told me, as we were reviewing how successful Youth’s participation was during the Forests Asia Summit, Jakarta, Indonesia, 5-6 May 2014.... More