Hundreds of thousands of olive trees have been destroyed within the past years in the South of Italy by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. It is impossible to know the exact number of infected trees but there are over 40.000 hectares affected by the disease. Spread towards the north of the country will be inevitable if decisive measures are not taken. This... Continue reading

“I am young, why should I do farming the way old farmers do”, says Mr Dharmendra Sahay from Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Looking at the robust crops of Asparagas racemosus and Anacyclus pyrethrum , he was excited about the bumper harvest this year. Like many others, he too encountered many problems and met failures initially while growing these delicate crops. But in the... Continue reading

“I’m responsible to meet the needs of my family, especially my children. They are the only motivation for me to keep working as a farmer”, explained Darwan, a farmer and also a father of two children. Darwin has worked as a farmer for years and still, his life is not getting better, let alone wealthy. The life of Darwan uncovers the... Continue reading

The mission of Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) is to serve as a global platform through which young professionals can express their ideas and realize their full potential towards a dynamic agricultural research for development. Every four years, YPARD undertakes a review to examine the evolutions in the network and provide suggestions for where further efforts should be concentrated. In... Continue reading

Hectic yet reflective! The pilot GFAR-YPARD Young Agripreneur Project is coming to an end and in these posts, the six young agri-preneurs are pondering on their professional and personal journeys over the past twelve months. In April 2016, they all gathered in Johannesburg, where they thrilled the audiences at GCARD3 with their enthusiasm, drive and energy in describing their YAP projects. Now they are... Continue reading

Hectic yet reflective! The pilot GFAR-YPARD Young Agripreneur Project is coming to an end and in these posts, the six young agri-preneurs are pondering on their professional and personal journeys over the past twelve months. In April 2016, they all gathered in Johannesburg, where they thrilled the audiences at GCARD3 with their enthusiasm, drive and energy in describing their YAP projects. Now they are... Continue reading

The Sundarbans is the largest single mangrove forest in the world, which covers approximately forty percent of the total forest in Bangladesh and is listed as one of the World Heritage and Ramsar site. Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) and Japan Environmental Education Forum (JEEF) have been trying to promote Sundarbans Mangrove Biodiversity Education Program in Bangladesh since 2013 among the... Continue reading

The sustainability of agriculture and food production relies on young people remaining in rural areas and engaging in agriculture, in particular in challenging areas like drylands and mountain areas, and in countries of high youth migration like Morocco. However, the lack of engagement of youth in agriculture, compounded with a declining interest among young professionals in pursuing agriculture-related careers has resulted... Continue reading

The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation (BCFN Foundation) is a private non-profit apolitical institution, working as a multidisciplinary and independent think tank. The foundation has a strong focus on determining the effect of economic, scientific, social and environmental factors on food. The foundation also offers valuable scientific content that inform and help people to make conscious daily choices about... Continue reading

As humans we can learn critical lessons from the experiences of fellow humans in agriculture science and natural resource management especially as the world has become “complex, chaotic, and contested”.  YPARD Zimbabwe is excited for the chance to speak to Miss Forget Shareka on her career in agricultural science and natural resources management.  One lesson is this: We must fight to... Continue reading

Youth unemployment has become the focus of most governments and development partners due to its adverse effect on migration, security and development. The agricultural sector with its wide range of activities offers a great opportunity for youth employment when well explored. Gathering information from the critical stakeholders of the framework thus the youth is a crucial element in tapping the opportunity... Continue reading

Hectic yet reflective! The pilot GFAR-YPARD Young Agripreneur Project is coming to an end and in these posts, the six young agri-preneurs are pondering on their professional and personal journeys over the past twelve months. In April 2016, they all gathered in Johannesburg, where they thrilled the audiences at GCARD3 with their enthusiasm, drive and energy in describing their YAP projects. Now they are... Continue reading

This year’s World Wildlife Day celebrates the theme ‘Listen to the Young Voices’. Its message is to mobilize the positive energy of the planet’s youth to call attention to the threats to wildlife. These include over-exploitation poaching or illicit trafficking. Engaging ‘Youth as agents of change’ to improve the world for our wildlife is a powerful message. We see many examples of the positive... Continue reading

First time in Europe Mentally I was going to make the best out of everything, no matter what the outcome. From leaving my front door in Kathmandu, Nepal, it took me two days to reach my final destination – Leuven, Belgium. When I finally got there the main thought on my mind, repeating like a broken record was, “besides having the... Continue reading

Hectic yet reflective! The pilot GFAR-YPARD Young Agripreneur Project is coming to an end and in these posts, the six young agri-preneurs are pondering on their professional and personal journeys over the past twelve months. In April 2016, they all gathered in Johannesburg, where they thrilled the audiences at GCARD3 with their enthusiasm, drive and energy in describing their YAP projects.... Continue reading

Francesca Allievi - the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Alumni group Operative President shares with us her thoughts, ideas and perspective on issues related to youth, agriculture and the agri-food sector through an interview conducted by Libuska Valesova - the YPARD Europe Coordinator. Francesca is an experienced, educated and active agricultural professional who believes in the value of food... Continue reading

and Amira Mahmoud. On April 11th and 12th, YPARD Egypt participated in a stakeholder validation workshop on rural women and decent employment in Egypt which was jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The workshop is part of ICARDA and FAO’s joint efforts to... Continue reading

I am motivated to share my story with you all because as they say, “Experience is the best teacher”. Some of my friends, family and community members did not understand the motive behind my pursuit of agriculture as a profession. They did not expect that decision from me. Instead they wanted me to pursue the social sciences or a law degree... Continue reading

Africa has the youngest population in the world with over 92% of the youth represented among the extremely poor (ILO, 2015a). The youth population is expected to grow at an exponentially high rate, thus bringing forth the need to create between ten to twelve million new jobs in Africa per year until 2035 to absorb the new labour market entrants (UN,... Continue reading

A year has passed since the start of YAP – a personal and professional development project aimed to assist young agripreneurs in establishing their own sustainable agricultural businesses. It has been a year of continuous coaching, mentoring and other types of support from GFAR and YPARD, on the road to successful agripreneurship. When I was selected as a YAP finalist, I had vision and courage but I... Continue reading