“Young people are best placed to understand and clearly voice out issues that their fellow youth are facing”. This was the premise that the Restless Development and the MasterCard Foundation stood on to introduce the youth to youth-led research methodology. Under the methodology, young people were empowered to take the lead in all stages of the research process from question design... Continue reading

This blog post is co-authored by Rashid B. Malya and Janet Maro. We are so grateful to be directly involved in the Sustainable Agriculture’s training program for youth in Tanzania. Great thanks to the Sunrise Children's Home of Uhekule Village and Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) in Morogoro for rolling out the Attract Youth to Agriculture program. We also thank the MasterCard... Continue reading

Francesca Allievi - The President of the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Alumni Association and researcher at the BCFN Foundation, shares with us details on her inspiring PhD research topic on meat consumption and its effect on our environmental resources through an interview conducted by Stacy Hammond - the YPARD Europe Communications and Fundraising officer. Enjoy the interview below:... Continue reading

Petr Hindrich, Founder, and Directing Manager of green-books.org shares with us his thoughts, ideas and perspective on raising awareness about nature and sustainable practices in communities using children’s education and books as a starting point through an interview conducted by Stacy Hammond - the YPARD Europe Communications and Fundraising officer. Together with a couple of like-minded friends, he established this non-profit... Continue reading

I am Zara Danielyan, a senior student at Agribusiness Teaching Center of the International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education (ICARE) foundation and I had the privilege to participate in this hands-on intensive course.   Thanks to USAID who funded the InnovATE Armenia project, this is the second year that the ICARE foundation jointly with Penn State University implemented the innovative... Continue reading

I am Elvina Asatryan, a senior student at Agribusiness Teaching Center (ATC) in Yerevan. ATC is a collaborative program between Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU) and Texas A&M University. All the courses at ATC are taught in English and we are given first-hand agribusiness experience through internship programs.   Not only did ATC imbue me with up-to-date knowledge of agribusiness, public... Continue reading

It’s no news that one of the most unexploited potentials in Sub Sahara Africa is Agriculture.  Nigeria, for example, is blessed with 84 million hectares of arable land (bigger than the land mass of most African countries), 60% (50.4) million of which is currently uncultivated:  the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria via the Minister for Information; Lai Muhammad rightly... Continue reading

GFAR and FARA are leading the facilitation of a Collective Action embedding foresight into agricultural research and innovation in Africa. Climate change, population growth and migration are some of the challenges that face the future of agriculture. Caught in the middle of these challenges are smallholder farmers and rural communities who produce a substantial proportion of the world’s food. For them... Continue reading

Agriculture is obviously Africa’s golden heritage but the continent is struggling to feed itself and far beyond the dream of feeding the World.  The primary concerns associated with Africa’s agriculture includes the depleting age of smallholder farmers, policy issues, absence and low technological use, improper use of machines, and ultimately, lack of youths in agriculture, coupled with low skills set for... Continue reading

I was flying from Amsterdam Schipol to Rome Fiumicino while reading "The Holland Herald," a magazine provided by the airplane company I was flying with. One of the articles in the magazine drew my attention, about the insight of UNESCO World Heritage. In the article, there was mentioned several conditions where the "UNESCO World Heritage" status could be revoked from a... Continue reading

Being a YPARD Armenia member, I had a chance to represent my country at the Youth Uniting to Halt Deforestation workshop and conference organized by joint efforts of the International Forestry Student Association (IFSA), the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) and the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) at FAO headquarters in Rome from February 19th to 22nd, 2018.  Now I am ready... Continue reading

Small towns have always been overlooked as a place for opportunities, in comparison to big cities.  The UN-Habitat report predicted 2/3 of the world population to live in cities by 2030, which threatens an unprecedented pressure on resources and infrastructure. However, there are also opportunities for development, which behooves as to explore what the future can be for small and medium-sized... Continue reading

Today’s agriculture is totally different from past years of farming.  Though the transition process is slow, gradually, young people are adopting Information Communication Technology (ICT) and innovations whilst, fading off traditional farming practices and techniques. In most African countries, the average age of farmers is 60 years old, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). These set of people... Continue reading

Today’s youth have experienced more rapid change than any previous generation. According to the United Nations, in 2016 there was 71 million youth unemployed globally. While there are many reasons for migration, the search for work continues to be a significant driver. This youth demographic is a particularly important one as ideas around migration are shaped at a young age. With... Continue reading

On February 2017, forty-seven African youth attended the MasterCard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Summit (YAW2017) in Kigali, Rwanda. Fourteen of those youth delegates were selected to receive 12 months of mentoring from senior delegates attending the Summit. Over the last months, these youth mentees have started forming relationships with their mentors who will support and challenge them during this year to take their next steps in... Continue reading

From February 14th to 16th, over 130 participants from 25 countries gathered in Addis Ababa to confirm partners and priorities at the launch meeting of the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (GLDC). Dr Peter Carberry, the Director of GLDC, set the framework from the start, underlining that the Program’s approach is how it can add value to... Continue reading

On February 2017, forty seven African youth attended the MasterCard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Summit (YAW2017) in Kigali, Rwanda. Fourteen of those youth delegates were selected to receive 12 months of mentoring from senior delegates attending the Summit. Over the last months, these youth mentees have started forming relationships with their mentors who will support and challenge them during this year to take... Continue reading

When Mr. Fusion made its appearance on the back of Doc Brown’s DeLorean in 1989, it foreshadowed a U.S future where trash was fuel. Adapting to renewable energy sources and utilizing waste is usually a component of America’s utopian future and since Mr. Fusion there have been great strides toward that end. Having said that, the transition is an arduous process... Continue reading

Collecting rainwater in barrels for outdoor use is an appreciated practice.  As interest has grown in home gardening and locally grown food, so has the popularity and interest in rain barrels for garden watering. However, our attention is often focused on collecting water, its cleanliness, and installing the collection/distribution system when it should be on water movement. It’s not entirely our... Continue reading

“Question your answers” – Jeffrey Campbell, Manager of Forest and Farm Facility at FAO The halting deforestation conference commenced with young people across sectors learning, engaging and collaborating.  The scene was set with leading professionals sharing insights on issues affecting forests. There was great emphasis on the need to push our boundaries as young professionals and in ensuring that we bring... Continue reading