Farmers from Adillpur, in the Ghotki-Sindh district in Pakistan – where the major crop is wheat - were having some feeling of frustration when considering their cultivation devastated by abrupt weeds which harbor insects, pests and microorganisms - making their labor fruitless. Our dedicated and tireless volunteer: Mr. Abdul Rauf along with other Young Professionals (YPs) visited the fields and recommended... Continue reading

Like any other society, there are many unwritten rules, norms or social behavioral codes borne out of culture in Africa – especially in my country Nigeria, for which I can speak out of experience. One of those norms is that a youth does not talk where his elders are talking, he can only watch, listen and observe – even if s/he... Continue reading

La Plate-forme pour la recherche agricole pour le développement (YPARD) en Guinée, lance un appel à candidatures pour les jeunes professionnels dynamiques et talentueux, avides d'un développement agricole de façon durable, pour rejoindre l'équipe nationale en Guinée. La candidature est ouverte pour quatre (4) postes de bénévoles : 1 chargé de communications&Webmaster1 chargé de partenariat et mobilisation de ressources1 agent administratif et... Continue reading

CGIAR is working on the planning of the next phase of the CGIAR’s strategy and programmes. These documents play a key role in setting the frame, for shaping an effective international agricultural research. It is thus crucial that all partners involved in the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR) have their say in these processes  - among which YPARD Community and Young... Continue reading

By Martina Graf, YPARD Europe and Jakob Hoerl, IFSA Ever heard of the word METSÄ, or of a place called Rovaniemi? No? Ok - Metsä means forest in Finnish and is a very important word in a country where 76% (23 million hectares) of the land is covered by forest and around 3% of the population work in the forestry sector,... Continue reading

The YPARD Team sends you their very best wishes for 2014! Thanks to all of you who contributed to making 2013 a year of great achievements.  We are ready to kick off 2014 with a strategic planning meeting, to set out a longer term vision and strengthen YPARD’s ability to bring significant youth input into discussions that are key for their... Continue reading

The ‘Science Forum 2013’ held during 23-25, September 2013 in Bonn, Germany focused on ‘Nutrition and health outcomes: targets for agricultural research’. The uniqueness of the Forum was the special session for the early career scientists organized by the Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Twenty one scientists who are in their... Continue reading

Networking - why YPARDians should do it YPARD is a platform which notably promotes information and experience exchange, so it is all about networking! For this very reason, our first event in Brazil was about “Professional Networking” in partnership with Crea Jovem. The event was held at Crea headquarters in Brasilia on November 28. Our programme started with a brief presentation... Continue reading

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together” was said by one the greatest painters, Vincent van Gogh, and perfectly describes the journey of YPARD Brazil from July – when I was nominated YPARD Brazil representative – to November – when we had the first event of YPARD Brazil. New country, new team,... Continue reading

There is a growing recognition that we have reached a tipping point when it comes to ideas on how best to engage young people or youths to be conscious and responsible global citizens in various disciplines. Today, sustainable development and the green economy are the new focus of research, education, and development in most countries albeit they are new terms for... Continue reading

[Photo credit: Naresh Kusi] Capacity Building training on Climate Change, Carbon Financing and REDD/REDD+ was organized in National Legume Research Center (NLRC), Rampur, Chitwan by Youth Alliance in Environment (YAE) with support of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) from December 1 to December 4, 2013.  With the slogan, nurturing Green Minds, YAE (established in... Continue reading

YPARD Nepal is a branch of YPARD working voluntarily for the upliftment and enhancement of agriculture in Nepal. With successful university level awareness programs, YPARD Nepal wants to extend its arm and raise new voices for the common fight of agricultural prosperity. YPARD Nepal now opens membership for 20 volunteering members to organize different programs as discussed on year roung planning of... Continue reading

The rejuvenation conference organized by IITA as part of its resource mobilization strategy in 2012 has come and gone but the call for investments in young people by the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr Kanayo Nwanze that culminated into the formation of the IITA Youth program will not fade away. Delivering a speech titled, “Rejuvenation: Investing... Continue reading

YPARD is thrilled to welcome our very first YPARD representative for Croatia: Zrinka Filipovi? Dermit. Zrinka is soon to finish her year as a graduate student at the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb. In this context, she often encountered various problems concerning youth involvement in agriculture. Besides student organizations which are a good starting point for international cooperation, she hadn’t come... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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... Continue reading

“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... Continue reading

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-... Continue reading

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... Continue reading