Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s fastest growing population and also the youngest. This is a huge opportunity for West Africa as young people bring energy, vivacity, and innovation into the work force and can consequently have a transformative impact on economic growth and social development. The agricultural sector plays a key role in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)... More

Two YPARD members were waived the registration fee for participating to the Social Media Coordination Bootcamp of the Global Landscapes Forum, Warsaw, Poland, organized by the CGIAR. This enabled two social-media experienced young professionals to benefit from a capacity building’s opportunity in refined Social Media Coordination for youth-in-ag’ s empowerment. I was one of them as YPARD Web and Communications officer... More

“We now have the largest youth generation in human history.  What do we do with this restless generation?  Far too often activities are taking place without the input from young people.”  Thembi (Sithembile Ndema) started, as the hard talk moderator at the Youth session of the Global Landscapes Forum, 16th November, Warsaw, Poland. 10 young speakers were selected among 150 applications... More

Last August and September, YPARD was one of the juries for the 2013 ITU Telecom World Young Innovators Competition, in the section Food and water wastage. The contest aims at recognizing young people who are using technological innovation to improve the social reality of their communities and giving them a boost in their activity. The contest had several phases. First, it... More

Young people are truly the best example for other young people to follow. Many people would refute this statement, but it holds true once the young leaders of today remain dedicated to their work, share their experiences and guide the way for others. At the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) ongoing at the University of Warsaw, Poland, November 16-17, 8 Youth speakers... More

In the episode “Agriculture entrepreneurs” a current affairs television show of Sajha Sawal, Devi Prasad Timilsina, a beekeeping farmer from Parbat district, Nepal shared “I am earning $10,000 USD per year but I am not getting workers to support my activities even if I am trying to provide good salary. My elder son has gone in Gulf country to earn $1,000-... More

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing human being in the 21st century. Climate change will seriously affect life, production and environment worldwide. Temperature rise and sea level rise may cause drought, floods and salinity water intrusion into agricultural land - thus, harm agriculture and pose risks to industries and socio-economic systems in the future. In addition, Vietnam... More

YPARD is delighted to welcome Armen Ghazaryan as YPARD representative for Armenia. "I have always been highly interested in agriculture, especially when it's about looking at agriculture from economic perspectives. Armen says. Even in my very childhood I was enjoying planting and harvesting greens, fruits and vegetables at my grandparent's summer home. I grew up and my love towards agriculture became... More

My name is Johnbosco, I studied Agriculture and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Soil Science and Land Management from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. I am also a member of IITA Youth Agripreneur. Often times, we are being asked these questions of; ‘who we are, why we are into this, what we are into, how we are doing this,... More

Nepal belongs to one of the poor country in the world. One fourth of its total population still lives below its poverty line. Poverty is one of the major problem of our country. Agriculture is the main occupation of Nepali people, around two-third of nepal's population depends upon agriculture for their living. Agriculture sector must be enhanced and implementation of new technologies in this... More

In response to the call for participation in the YPARD India working group given on ypard.net, a good number of applications were received and out of them, 15 candidates were selected based on their expression of interest, insight on youth and agriculture and commitment for YPARD. The members of YPARD India working group are: Aditya, Amjad, Jitender,  Jyotsna, Muthuveeran, Natalia, Pardeep,... More

“We, we, we” – It will certainly ring a bell for whoever has some experience of global development conferences. People get together with the beautiful purpose of changing the world, “for the best.” A “we”, like an unidentified monster. Everybody returns home with quite an unclear idea of who will do what to contribute to the broad picture. On the top... More

YPARD is delighted to welcome Madan Poudel as YPARD Web4Knowledge. Madan is working some 15 hours a week remotely, on posting information on www.ypard.net. Here are some Madan’s words to YPARD Community: "Hello Ypardians, I am Madan Poudel from Nepal currently studying in Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU), Agriculture faculty in Bachelor level. As my family engaged in farming for major... More

The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF)'s two-day event will be kick-started with a TedX-style Youth session. Nine young people will take the floor to deliver inspirational speeches about youth’s role in the natural resources sector. “Thought leaders” in youth issues will share with us how they have changed the way youth are perceived in natural resource management sectors and “Youth champions” will... More

Democracy is the ability of citizens to enjoy equal opportunities of a resource, be it natural, social, human, or economic resource. Being in a third world country, Kenya, issues of democracy have resulted to political debates involving the civil society and the private sectors amongst many other interested parties. Our leaders have initially capitalized on their powers earlier instilled in them... More

YPARD is delighted to welcome its new representative for Kenya : Emmanuel Ngore. Emmanuel Ngore is a programme assistant at the World Agroforestry Centre. Emmanuel has worked with the youth for 6 years on subject matters pertaining to conservation of natural resources, policymaking, and diseases prevention. This has spanned the Non-Governmental sector (Kenya Red Cross – Society Nyando Branch) where he... More

YPARD is delighted to welcome Kristina Kuznetsova as YPARD Country representative for Ukraine. "I am a little botanist from a big city, Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, Kristina says. Plants have fascinated me from an early age; I loved exploring their diversity even before I knew what the word diversity meant. Some of my favorite activities as a child included picking and... More

Call for Application  The Young Professionals’ Platform for Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD) Nigeria, seeks young, dynamic and talented agriculture professionals for four (4) volunteer positions, - Communications and Awareness Officer, Partnership Officer, Program Officer and Administrative Officer (Secretary). YPARD is a Young Professional’s Platform for Agricultural Research for Development. It has a mission to serve as a global platform through... More

If the young professionals “Make Agriculture Cool Again” in GCARD2012, young guys “Make Agriculture Hot” in Islamabad, Pakistan. With the theme “Youth and Agriculture”, APAARI (Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions) and PARC (Pakistan Agriculture Research Council) organized the Regional Workshop to discuss the challenges and opportunities for youth engagement in agriculture on October 23-24 at Islamabad, Pakistan. If youth... More

Youth Challenges and Opportunities Workshop Islamabad, Pakistan, October 22-24, 2013 The workshop brought to light some interesting aspects related to youth in agricultural development.  The first day focused on integrating the work of the CGIAR with those within the regional fora.  There was a strong appreciation by those in attendance of having organized a meeting in Pakistan, where many have tried... More