"When you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed." This is not my quote rather one by Michelle Obama. But its also one that aptly describes Madan Poudel a YPARD member from Nepal. He... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome YPARD Peru representative Daniela Rivas. Daniela Rivas is a proud alumni of the Pan-american School of Agriculture Zamorano, the most recognized school of agriculture in Latin America, and possesses a major in Socio-economic Development and Environment. In the past, Daniela has worked with rural and indigenous communities, small scale growers and their organizations and on projects... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome the YPARD Europe Communications and Fund Raising officer Stacy Hammond.  Stacy is a 2014 graduate of Agroforestry Engineering at URACCAN (Nicaragua) and a Master’s in Tropical Crop Management and Ecology at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS).She is currently a Ph.D. student at CULS with focus on tropical agrobiology and bioresource management. Stacy’s range of... Continue reading

  Every year, millions of tons of food are lost to pest damage during the post-harvest stage, and this also amounts to millions of lost revenue for farmers.In the Philippines alone, 3 MILLION TONS OF RICE is lost every year due to pest damage. But, the situation is about to change for the better! An Engineering Team from The University of... Continue reading

With the increasing need for young people to be actively involved in agriculture, young professionals in agriculture gathered in Nairobi to celebrate fifteen young people who have proactively contributed to innovative and economically sustainable agricultural development.  With each passing day, there is some increasing need for young people to be involved in agriculture. More often than not, young people have the... Continue reading

There is an African proverb that says the hottest music and dance always comes from home.  It is a proverb that aptly describes the YPARD members who came from all over Africa and on June 15th made Kigali their home. The congregation of more than 70 youth enthusiasts had gathered at the Media Hall during the 7th Africa Science Week to... Continue reading

Since its inception, YPARD has grown rapidly, demonstrating the need and value that young professionals see in a youth focused network.  This is moreso reflected in the recently released YPARD 2015 annual report which takes into account all the activities YPARD community has been involved in for the last one year.Among these notable activities include; Communication both Online and Offline In... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome our YPARD Europe Coordinator: Libuška Valešová Libuška is a member of the Department of Economics and Development at the Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences at the Czech University of Life Sciences (CULS) which is just days short of becoming a hosting institution for the YPARD Europe. The  CULS’s Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences (FTA) partners closely with numerous key... Continue reading

Three months since YPARD announced its 2016 anniversary, celebratory content is still streaming in. In March 2016, we take you through the video lens of YPARD Trinidad and Tobago under the leadership of  Keron Bascombe who shares his experiences as a YPARD member and aTrinidad and Tobago representative over the last three years. YPARD has been a major contributor in providing... Continue reading

The intensive use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers to agricultural crops has considerable negative impacts related to health and safety of farmers and workers, environmental damage (on soil, water and biodiversity), food safety and international trade. While many highly hazardous pesticides have been banned by international conventions or are prohibited under voluntary sustainability standards, the problems on the ground remain persistent.... Continue reading

Reblogged from the GFAR Blog What was the “YAP” project all about, again? In the run-up to the upcoming #GCARD3 global event, we announced “YAP”, the Youth Agripreneurs Project. “YAP” is a pilot project targeting young agricultural entrepreneurs or “agripreneurs” by GFAR (the Global Forum on Agricultural Research), CGIAR (the Global Agricultural Research Partnership) and YPARD (the Young Professionals for Agricultural... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome our very first YPARD Country representative for Jamaica:  Jhannel Tomlinson Jhannel Tomlinson is a 24 year old MPhil/PhD candidate in the Department of Geography and Geology at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, whose research interests include climate smart agriculture, innovation adoption, rural livelihoods and adaptation.She is currently a Commonwealth Youth correspondent involved in numerous... Continue reading

The CGIAR Research Programs, including Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB), were established in 2012 and are currently undergoing a shift to a second phase of Agri-Food System research programs from 2017 – 2022. RTB partners are collaborating to produce a proposal for the next phase of the research program, which will be submitted to the CGIAR Consortium on March 31. They would... Continue reading

Globally, women play a very key role as far as agricultural production is concerned. However, they have lesser access to productive resources like inputs, land, financial services, extension services etc. and the situation is much more worse in rural areas. A certain proportion of these women happen to be youths. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation 2010-11 State Of Food... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome our very first YPARD Country representative for Madagascar: Malala Onisoa Rakotojaofeno Malala, a Malagasy environmentalist and economist by training has over five years on evironmental related issues. Her areas of expertise include Environment, development, economics and agriculture. Currently, she is a PhD student at the University of Antananarivo and have been involved in agricultural activities since... Continue reading

For the last couple of weeks, over 400 young people from over 35 countries completed the MyFood30 survey and shared their views on the future of our agri-food systems. MyFood30 was designed to find out what support young people need to make a contribution to the agri-food system related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG2, 12 and 15).From 10 August until 29 September MyFood30 partner organizations... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome our very first YPARD Country representative for Lebanon: Malak Tleis Malak hails from  a rural area in Lebanon. Her passion for agriculture started way before she can remember and its the same passion that drove her to go towards agriculture studies. She holds an Agricultural Engineering degree from Lebanese University with a specialization in Plant Production... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome the YPARD Country representative for Uganda, Sylvia Natukunda Mwesigwa. Sylvia has over 10 years of experience working as an agribusiness consultant for several projects and organisations. Key among these include her previous position as the National Agribusiness Consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Her expertise stems from the training she... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome our very first YPARD Country representative for Sweden, Karolin Andersson. Karolin recently graduated in agricultural development from the Institute of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. She comes from Malmö in southern Sweden but has also studied since 2008 at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala to get a... Continue reading

The African Development Bank's new leader Akinwumi Adesina promoted agricultural reform when he was the Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria. Esther Ngumbi explains how garnering more youth interest in agriculture could help the continent's economic development. The African Development Bank, Africa’s biggest lending institution, recently elected a new leader: Akinwumi Adesina. The former Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria, Adesina led an... Continue reading