On this beautiful day as we celebrate the International Women's Day, I would like to devote my blog to women that are a great drive in many sectors of economy. Women produce half of the world food, do small businesses, control the rational use of natural resources, innovate and create services. Women bring own perspective into the development process and without... Continue reading

“I have been raising pigs for five years with my parents just like any other ordinary farmer in Malawi, but my four years of undergraduate education has fuelled my interest in pig business; I am going commercial”, William Chimtenga, a passionate young final year student and agro-entrepreneur at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) said.  This is one of the... Continue reading

The Dryland Systems Research Program of the CGIAR published recently their gender strategy with a strong Youth component. The CGIAR has shown a strong support to the youth on many occasions, through post-doc programs, youth participation support at key events, capacity building opportunities and other activities. This strategy, at a research programme level, is bringing a strong strategic backbone to these... Continue reading

YPARD Iran has worked with Kimiyaye Sabz NGO since April 2013. We have contributed to Eco- friendly Agriculture group of Kimiyaye Sabz NGO in Markazi province (a province in center of Iran). This office has held special English workshop about agriculture and environment for students and graduated persons in these fields. Indeed language barrier was identified as a limitation in Iran... Continue reading

The people of Mureed Shakh are quite illiterate; most of the farmers were unaware of the technology and mass productivity of crops. The production of sugarcane they are cultivating is 50% less than what can be done with new technologies. When we visited and observed farmers of Mureed Shakh, they were farming sugarcane in majority, but they were not aware about how... Continue reading

"The first thing I think about is NOT Money." Pape Samb Pape knows what he talks about; he played a key role in the receiving of IFAD grant of US$1.95million to create opportunities for rural youth in West and Central Africa. Pape Samb is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GYIN, the Global Youth Innovation Network, a platform of... Continue reading

First time in Nepal, first day of January 2014 (17th Poush, 2070BS) was declared as National Poultry Day. This day's grand celebration was made jointly by farmers, hatchery entrepreneurs, veterinarians, agriculturalists, government service officers and people involving in poultry farming from different parts of Nepal in my own hometown, Chitwan district, on the chairmanship of Mr. Guna Chandra Bista (First Nepali... Continue reading

Nepal is predominantly an agricultural country on which 65.3% population depend for their livelihood. The agricultural system in Nepal is still traditional, where people mostly produce food crops which are of subsistence nature and very less amount of high value crops. Although youth accounts for more than 40% of the population many youth are attracted towards foreign jobs which create a limitation for... Continue reading

Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, took place in Berlin on January 16 – 18, 2014 under the title “Empowering Agriculture: Fostering Resilience – Securing Food and Nutrition“. YPARD Georgia had a great opportunity to attend the conference and represent Young Professionals' Platform for Agriculture Development at the forum.  This international conference was organized by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture... Continue reading

Everybody knows that Nepalese agriculture is typically characterized by smallholder, traditional and subsistence farming. The recent study (6th National Agriculture Census, 2011/12) shows that there are 3.831 million farming household in the country where agriculture is the main source of income for 83 percent of the families, but 60 percent of farmers are unable to feed from their own production. The... Continue reading

[Youth Report from a Conference Organized by Agrilink at LAHORE] When a country is rapidly growing, it is always guiding its nation towards prosperity in economical development. First you need to set the goal and understand the tradition and issues/problems of your people to make a successful plan, sometimes you need additional training in aspects of cultivation, production or marketing. Sometimes... Continue reading

This world is full of billionaires, successful people from ordinary to extraordinary class, who had done uncountable tremendous jobs in their lives, so this may not make you WONDER, but this is the beginning of success for an ordinary girl, who believes that one day her dreams come true. I am profoundly indebted to International Cotton Association for extending an invitation... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome Yashpal S. Saharawat as YPARD India representative. Yash is an Agronomist by profession, involved in promoting agriculture among the youth and in making agriculture a field of entrepreneurship opportunities beyond a mean of livelihood, especially in the developing country. Youth contributing almost 65% of total population in world’s second largest populated country is often debated as... Continue reading

Young people are called to contribute to the upcoming 10th CAADP Partnership Platform through the Non State Actors platform. CAADP stand for Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.  FANRPAN invites you(th) to give your input into the recommendations they will present to the Africa Agriculture Ministers. Get a voice; Take action! Learn more through Sithembile Ndema's message, from Food, Agriculture and Natural... Continue reading

Temporary, 6 month full time position, from May 15, 2014 YPARD is an international movement by Young Professionals for Young Professionals for Agricultural Development. It operates as a network; it is not a formalized institution. This global on-line and off-line communication and discussion platform is meant to enable YPs all over the world to realize their full potential and contribute towards... Continue reading

Big Facts, CCAFS-led website on facts and figures about climate change, agriculture and food security CCAFS, the CGIAR funded Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, has recently relaunched the Big Facts website, a great source of information on the societal challenges that we face today for everyone, from researchers and policy makers to young professionals just getting started... Continue reading

The 2013 external review of YPARD was undertaken by a team of twinned senior-junior external consultants, from August to December 2013, with the Final Report approved by the Steering Committee (SC) in January 2014. We appreciate the work of the reviewers and welcome their recommendations for a "renewed YPARD". The SC agrees on the set of recommendations designed to bring YPARD... Continue reading

In a post- crisis world, innovation in rural development can be the single most important driver of the growth and competitiveness of agricultural sector. Today, there is much more reliance on the agricultural market than in the past decades. Issues of what to do to reduce poverty, increase profit from agricultural production, employment and widen consumers` choice are still to be... Continue reading

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) counts about 7000 agricultural scientists of which about 27% were young professionals (under 40 years of age) in 2009. Youth's share is going to increase to 48% by the end of the year 2013 making the ICAR the youngest in the world National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) (data from ASTI (FAO)).At this backdrop, with... Continue reading

To enhance our activities in Nigeria and ensure the effectiveness of YPARD in the country - especially as it relates to achieving our strategic objectives of mobilizing more members and stakeholders and build youth's capacities - a call for application was made in December 2013 for Young Professionals to be part of the National Working Group for YPARD Nigeria. We are... Continue reading