Yesterday, 16th of June, the 2014 YPARD China Youth Elite Round Table Discussion was held in the west lobby of the National Agriculture Library in the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. As the theme of this discussion was "YPARD China’s role in Fostering Chinese Young Professional in International Communication", the participants were mainly young elites and professionals, such as Codrin Paveliuc,... Continue reading

When I saw the title of the conference, “Agriculture growth, jobs, food security and climate: Taking action in response to IPCC[1]” I thought: “We have a key role there!” Young people are a key element to foster change and innovation, they’ll be future actors in the new landscape that’s being designed now; their voices must be taken into account. This conference... Continue reading

Farming is an inborn thing for a standard African man, or a Nigerian, to be precise. There is a refrain or a common say in the Western part of Nigeria (among the Yoruba) which says: “Farming is the profession of our land/ anyone who refuses to work will steal/ education without hoe or cutlass/ is not complete, no, not complete.” As... Continue reading

“Online media is becoming increasingly important for any company, organisation or institute. If you don’t have an online presence, you don’t exist. Social media, websites, online data repositories, intranets, mobile technologies - all make our “online publishing” diverse and exciting. Today’s fast-paced online technology in an interactive and inter-connected world also means that “the work is never finished.” Peter Casier, the... Continue reading

A three-day “Pakistan Agricultural Exhibition” was held at Punjab’s second largest exhibition center set up at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad – Pakistan, from May 28-30, 2014. In this technological and innovative era, the event was designed as a launch pad for international and national organizations to penetrate in the highly expanding and lucrative Pakistani markets. More than 15,000 people visited... Continue reading

It’s a common fact that family and small-holder farming contributes to food security, income generation, and employment for a majority of people in developing countries. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) 2013 estimates that small-holders produce about 80% of food consumed in developing countries. The United Nations’ declaration making 2014 the year of as the family farming recognizes this fact. The potential in... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

The day has finally come. After eight years of intensive planning, building and waiting, we will see the ball rolling at 5 pm today, Brasilia time, for the first match in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Surely, this journey means more than football. This period was also marked by a rising concern of Brazilian people for better days, for better living... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) published recently its Youth Strategy Plan from 2013 to 2017. After more than 15 years supporting and promoting youth engagement in agriculture, CTA has launched this strategy in order to boost the crucial role of young people in agriculture and rural development (ARD) to develop and modernise the sector. 70% of Africa’s... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

“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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

“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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading