The United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all (UN) member states in 2015 provides a generally agreed game plan to achieve sustainable peace and prosperity for people and the planet. The SDGs has similarity with the recently phased out Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) having its first goal to “eradicating extreme hunger and poverty”. The SDGs equally adopted the... Continue reading

?Opinion: Consolidating youth voices in agriculture  By Raymond Erick Zvavanyange  Youths have diversified agriculture, thanks to information and communication technologies (ICTs) which are leading numerous initiatives. Youths are benefiting through start-ups, mobile communities, and through a voice. The voice is precisely a lobbying and advocacy when it’s well-intentioned. Fifty or so years ago, lobbying or advocacy was likely a policy maker’s... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome the new YPARD Serbia country representative Julijana El Omari. Julijana is a graduate from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Serbia with a Bachelor's degree in journalism. In her last investigative journalism exam, in, she made a television video story about the complaints written by farmers after they have been turned down for governments agricultural... Continue reading

YPARD Serbia has extended its list of partnerships by creating collaboration with the association “Probaj doma?e” (Try homemade products) which promotes agricultural and traditional products and homemade drinks and food. They also give support to small scale producers, helping to make and easier way into the market by representing their products in all sorts of fairs and manifestations. Recognizing that we... Continue reading

            Philippines is considered as an agricultural country but despite its title, the number of people entering the industry is decreasing, mainly due to various stereotypes about farming like being a farmer is considered to be a low-class job and just for unfortunate people who can’t afford good education and wealthy lifestyle.        ... Continue reading

Exuding awesomeness but also vulnerability, youth are primed to spark restoration of Africa’s degrading landscapes. On 27-28 August, over 60 youth from a dozen African countries gathered at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). Aged 18-35, they ranged from students to farmers to leaders of NGOs, small start-ups and rural enterprises. But they shared one goal – getting “restoration ready”. Part of... Continue reading

Today commercial farming is gradually picking up in most developing countries. Unlike subsistence farming, the expectations to generate enough income and revenue from farm sales is high in commercial farming. However, this comes at the expense of high investments in the farming business. In farming as a business, there is need for a capital, both starting and working capital. This is... Continue reading

YPARD is delighted to welcome the incoming YPARD director Yemi Adeyeye . Yemi is a PhD Candidate at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He holds a double MSc degree (Erasmus Mundus MSc program): MSc in Agricultural Development (forests and livelihoods) from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and MSc Environmental Forestry from Bangor University, Wales. Prior to his graduate degrees, he obtained... Continue reading

Adorable Akos, the CEO and founder of Uniting Women for Agricultural Development Foundation (UWAD) in Ghana tells about the Miss Agriculture Ghana Pageant in an interview with Kofi Kisiedu Acquaye, Program Officer- YPARD Africa. This pageant comes off on the 20th of October 2018 at the M-Plaza Hotel in Accra under the theme Women in agriculture; a sure way for food... Continue reading

African agricultural landscape is filled with lots of potential for increased output per square meter if mechanization plays its role. Under a set of more relaxed assumptions, estimates of potentially available uncultivated land in sub-Saharan Africa range from 52 percent to as high as 60 percent of the world's remaining arable land. A renewed focus on agriculture’s potential contribution to economic... Continue reading

Do you know that an estimated 200 million people in sub-Saharan African (18% of the population) face serious water shortages all over the world? Do you also know that approximately 70% of the world’s poor live in rural areas with little option but to rely on rain-fed agriculture to sustain their livelihoods? The current challenge of meeting global food demand requires... Continue reading

NAIROBI — At a time when many people are compelled to move away from their home base for various pressing reasons, it’s comforting and even exciting to discover that it’s possible to restore the livelihoods of their communities and give them a compelling reason to return with pride to their homes. It’s so awesome to find out that the threats of... Continue reading

Sabi-Agrik Ltd and partners launched the first phase of a successful agribusiness partnership that supports rural women and farmer groups across Nigeria and Africa on a Farmer’s Voice Project. The Farmer’s Voice Project began in 2018 as a way of helping rural women groups, local communities and indigenous peoples’ institutions, among others to strengthen their technical and business capacities to fight... Continue reading

Several stakeholders have called for engagements of youth within the sector. However, the prevalent challenges outweigh the number of stakeholders calling reaching out to the youth. Despite the recognition of the importance of engaging youth within the agricultural sector and development community, a cohesive and deliberate approach has to be defined to augment the efforts still being fragmented. To properly capture... Continue reading

Recently, findings and evidence have shown that we may face another challenge that is not born because of conflicts and disputes as seen in the past century, but a challenge born out of the inability for a nation to successfully provide food for its citizens. Hunger is not based on seasonality and so, food production and food security should not be... Continue reading

Developing the agricultural landscape in Africa needs specialized skills in various areas such as Project Management, Commercial Crop Production, Seed Technology, Agricultural Equipment Maintenance Engineers, Plant and Animal Breeders, Lab Technologist and so many other expert fields. The gap between skilled and unskilled labour in the agricultural field, especially in Africa, calls for prompt response among organisations that have their vision... Continue reading

While Africa’s youthful population is bulging, farmers are growing older and with young people being overrepresented among the unemployed; calls for investments in youth are proliferating to ensure food security for future generations. The African Union’s Malabo Declaration, which contains a set of agriculture goals for 2025, calls for creating job opportunities for at least 30 percent of the youth in agriculture.... Continue reading

The recent FAO and ITC event “Regional workshop on the WTO (World Trade Organization) instruments in the interest of Agribusiness and on export promotion” invited a discussion on building inclusive value chains in light of small-holder producers. Participants at roundtable were FAO and ITC (International Trade Center) Staff, international consults and Ministry representatives from Post-soviet countries and Latin America, several NGOs... Continue reading

African agriculture remains one of the essential sectors for the development and emergence of Africa in general.  To exclude or not to put agriculture in primacy in the objectives of sustainable development is to set aside an agricultural population of nearly 530 million and 580 million by 2020 (NEPAD), knowing that women and young people constitute a significant part of this... Continue reading

Nepal, a small and beautiful mountainous country in the lap of Himalayas.  Characterized by its extreme topography, a sharp rise in altitude, diverse biodiversity and agriculture-based-economy, Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change induced hazards.  Due to climate change, our serene environment is at risk, our biodiversity is at jeopardy, our agricultural system is becoming vulnerable and overall; our livelihood has... Continue reading