An FAO report in (2004), estimates that a third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted across the global food system. There is an urgent need to efficiently store and preserve food, if we are to achieve food security in the continent. The traditional storage techniques and preservation methods used by African farmers are small-scale, with a capacity of up... Continue reading

There are more young people in the African population than ever before. In fact, approximately 70 percent of the over 1 Billion people living in Africa are under the age of 30! What’s more, fewer and fewer young people are attracted to agriculture, or see it as a viable future for themselves. Emmanuel Ngenge Ngeh, Cameroonian founder of the Young Farmers... Continue reading

“They are an opportunity if we convert their energies (the youth) to agricultural development but they could be a ‘time bomb’ if we fail to do so,”- President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr Kanayo Nwanze. The above words were expressed by the IFAD President Dr. Kanayo during his speech in August 2012 when he visited the International... Continue reading

In line with two of its core objectives, that is to facilitate exchange of information and knowledge among young professionals across disciplines, professions, age and regions; and to promote agriculture among young people,  the Young Professionals Platform for Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD) Nigeria, recently paid a visit to the IITA Young Agripreneurs at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)... Continue reading

What comes to your mind when you think of a farmer? What comes to mind for most of us is an old man, dressed in overalls, smelling dirty, and chewing on a straw. Though farmers are considered important to food production and the economy of any nation, youth have little interest in agricultural careers. Nowadays most people equate agriculture with farming... Continue reading

Mainstreaming the youth in CGIAR Dryland Systems Research programs 1.1 So here I was, a young female Malawian representing YPARD and fellow youth at the CRP1.1 East Africa meeting in Lilongwe-Malawi, where representatives from CGIAR in east and southern Africa had convened. After spending a restless night reading the program document, I could hardly wait to pass my message and thoughts... Continue reading

“I have started to realize the importance of youth in the future of a food-secure world… (and) no matter how many new seeds or crops we bring on the market, no matter how many new systems of irrigation, land and water use, cattle breeding systems, food storage improvements…, unless we have young people interested in… agriculture… it will all fail” dixit... Continue reading

Technologies and Practices for Small Agricultural Producers About TECA TECA stands for Technologies and Practices for Small Agriculture Producers (TECA), which aims to improve access to practical information specifically for smallholders, extension and advisory services, development practitioners, producer organizations and producers themselves. TECA is FAO’s web-based knowledge repository of applied technologies and practices in English, French and Spanish on different agricultural... Continue reading

“In the past decades, organic agriculture was often reacting late to changes in contemporary agriculture and developments were often only visible to farmers as adaptations of the guidelines” says Robert Obrist, Head of the Section of Education and Extension at FiBL (Research Institute for Organic Agriculture) in Frick, Switzerland. He leads our group on the 25th of August through the area... Continue reading

The Global Landscapes Forum is giving a central place to young professionals by kicking its 2days event with a TedX-style youth session – “Youth: The Future of Sustainable Landscapes” - on the very first morning - 16 November - at the UNFCC COP19, in Warsaw, Poland. About 8 inspirational speakers will take the floor on-site to discuss the issues and actions... Continue reading

YPARD organized a two day preparatory meeting for the YPARD external review, on 18-19 September 2013. The Global Coordination Unit met the two consultants who are conducting the review.The objective of the review is to evaluate the progress of YPARD (with emphasis on the last four years since the external review of 2009) but also to determine the areas to be... Continue reading

About 3 billion ha. of land (equivalent to near to 41% of the earth's land) are dry, says an article by the CGIAR Dryland Systems research program CRP 1.1. Furthermore the program states that within a population close to 2.5 billion in dry areas, 16 percent of the population is extremely poor. The CRP1.1 focuses on populations of the dry areas... Continue reading

YPARD is delighted to welcome Madhu Sudhan Ghimire as Social Media Intern. Madhu will be working on spreading the word and animating YPARD social media channels on Facebook page and group, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. He will be working remotely from Nepal some 10-15 hours a week. Madhu is a young nepalese student enrolled in a BSc. Agriculture at Tribhuwan... Continue reading

It was my first time out of Nigeria to join other youths across Africa in a very important topic: Agriculture and entrepreneurship! It was the iHAV Foundation conference held on the 24th – 27th July, 2013 at Africana Guest House Accra, Ghana involving youths between the ages of 18 – 28 years coming together to listen to and interact on ways... Continue reading

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2013), the national unemployment rate is 23.9 percent with the youth accounting for more than 70 percent. Increased involvement of youth in agricultural activities will help reduce the problems of the ageing farm population and increasing youth unemployment. Nigeria’s government has attempted to stimulate youth’s interest in agricultural production and processing since the... Continue reading

It is imperative for any entrepreneurial youth to be a pioneer user of a technological innovation to reap its maximum benefit. The same is true for youth in agriculture. Adopting and implementing new agricultural technological advances, especially when eco-friendly does seem to promote a promising future. Fair trade regimes and organic agricultural systems are two innovations that increasingly play an important... Continue reading

Have you heard about the GLF COP19 Social Media BootCamp Program organised by CGIAR (the Global Agricultural Research Partnership) in cooperation with The Global Landscapes Forum ? In the frame of their continuous support to young professionals in the field of agriculture, CGIAR has waived the entry fee for 2 YPARD members (US$1,400). Mind, Candidates will still have to fund their... Continue reading

Plants are feeding the world and without (modern) agriculture the world could feed only 4 million people. But will we find the solution for feeding 9.5 billion people in 2050? It seems that intensifica­tion is not the answer, as enough food is produced globally, natural resources are getting scarcer and the current status of human food security is highly controversial: about... Continue reading

By Courtney Paisley and Marina Cherbonnier YPARD was extremely active in this years' AASW.  From identifying many excellent active youths for participation, organising a YPARD side event, participating and contributing to other AASW side sessions to social reporting of the event on-site and online.  The three side events with a strong youth component include the Gender and Youth Side Event, the... Continue reading

In the viewpoint of economic analyst, today's world can be divided into developed and developing countries with significant differences as in development of science and technology,'' shared by Prof. Dayananda Bajracharya, former vice-chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology(NAST). The key element holds with adequate scientific discussions to affect the positive change. And here are silver linings; scientific symposium organized... Continue reading