With up to 9.3 billion people to feed in 2050 in the world, it becomes urgent to find ways to increase agricultural productivity across Africa, the second most populated continent. One option developed so far by humans is “boosting” soil fertility with chemical fertilizers. But is this option sustainable? What are alternatives to chemical fertilizers do we have? Implications of using... Continue reading

On January 20, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, ONE.org with partners launched the Do Agric, It Pays campaign. The campaign called on African governments to keep their promises to invest in agriculture and support smallholder farmers as committed in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). During the campaign, a petition was signed by over 2 million people across Africa. The Do Agric... Continue reading

There is an African proverb that says the hottest music and dance always comes from home.  It is a proverb that aptly describes the YPARD members who came from all over Africa and on June 15th made Kigali their home. The congregation of more than 70 youth enthusiasts had gathered at the Media Hall during the 7th Africa Science Week to... Continue reading

The United Nations declared 2014 to be the International Year of Family Farming. In this context the first AGRINATURA Science Days brought together scientists, international scholars, private sector and youth in Vienna between May 5–8 for an exciting event titled: “Growing together - Family Farming and agricultural sciences transforming world food systems”. The objective of AGRINATURA Science Days was to unite researchers and practitioners... Continue reading

In the coming future all the key agricultural decisions will be made within a few clicks on the tablet or mobile phone.A farmer will still come to his field more of a  habit  rather than a necessity.Each morning,the farmer will receive complete farm overview charts to the e-mail containing farm information. IoT allows to access and control physical objects, including fields,... Continue reading

At the occasion of YPARD 10 years, GFAR Foresight Advisor Robin Bourgeois projects the plausible futures of YPARD as a movement as well as young people involvement in agriculture in the next ten years. I am finally back in 2016 after having had the privilege of traveling in four different plausible futures, where I met outstanding YPARD members yesterday, the 3... Continue reading

With the increasing need for young people to be actively involved in agriculture, young professionals in agriculture gathered in Nairobi to celebrate fifteen young people who have proactively contributed to innovative and economically sustainable agricultural development.  With each passing day, there is some increasing need for young people to be involved in agriculture. More often than not, young people have the... Continue reading

We all know that ICT in Agriculture is not a new thing and it has the potential to build up a better, smarter and more sustainable food production. We also know there's a lot more that can, and should be done, for improving global knowledge level about it. But for now, i will concentrate on the youth needs here. From June... Continue reading

Never doubt the power of the right question asked at the right moment. “Who is YPARD Kenya?” asked Monica Kapiriri, a trainer with the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD). The question put a pause on the conversation immediately. Here we were, the mentors and mentees, gathered in Naivasha, Kenya as part of the closing workshop of YPARD’s face-to-face... Continue reading

Today the world is rapidly growing but deep insights tell us that the real riches are not growing at all.A common man who works the whole day and earns just a mere satiable income is standing at the same place where he was standing some few years ago. The more deprived are the poor people, who although have a roof over... Continue reading

Agriculture is the backbone of the Nepalese economy accounting for on average 60% of the Gross Domestic Product. It goes without saying that agriculture is the chief contributor for nutrition for many households.  On a nutritional point of view, Nepal produces various kinds of nutritious foods but the lack of information about their nutritional value has hindered their growth. I believe,... Continue reading

This blogpost by Fred Shema originally appeared on the FARA blog. The biggest challenge Africa is facing is its high level of youth unemployment. 60% of of the unemployed in the continent are youth. And youth constitute 40% of the continent’s population. African countries, institutions and partners are striving to reverse this negative trend, through different programs: Youth in Africa are... Continue reading

This blogpost by Djamila Mathu originally appeared on the FARA blog In Egypt, a desert country that gets almost all its water from the Nile, the scarcity of water has become a challenge in agriculture. Climate change is worsening the problem through rising temperature and loss of agriculture land. However a new irrigation technology may soon change that. In collaboration with science... Continue reading

This blogpost by Abe Oluwayomi Kayode originally appeared on the FARA blog A lecturer, Head of the mechanization department in the College of Agriculture at University of Rwanda, has found interesting ways to reduce the drudgery often faced by farmers in their various farming and non-farming operations.  Dr. Deepak Das, together with his final year students, have designed innovative machines and equipment which can... Continue reading

This blogpost by Olivier Ngwije originally appeared on the FARA blog Africa must work hard to increase agriculture production to reduce poverty and promote economic growth, says Dr Chiji Ojukwu, Director of the Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department, at the African Development Bank (AfDB). This was Dr Ojukwu’s message to participants attending the 7th Africa Agriculture Science Week in Kigali Rwanda. Through advocacy... Continue reading

"What's easier than uploading a picture online", you say? And indeed, we *all* think we rock at it...but let's be honest: we don't...Do you have an eye for quality pictures? Do you know how to resize them without distorting them? Do you know that there are a number of rules and rights around pictures that you should not deny...  Join the... Continue reading

Open access has been a positive force in scientific publishing.  But, the removal of paywalls and restrictive licencing are not the only issues that need to be tackled; unnecessary delays to publication, irreproducible findings, publication biases, and poor access to underlying data and code also need to be addressed. This is especially important in agriculture and nutrition research where quick, unrestricted... Continue reading

For many years, agriculture has been referred to as an ageing profession with a majority of young people choosing it as the last option.  Ask any young person in their formative years what they want to be when they grow up and initial answers like doctors, engineers, pilots will most definitely float in the air. This begs the question, is agriculture... Continue reading

Since 2015, YPARD Ph members have been part of conferences, such as the YPARD Asia Pacific Conference, GCARD3 Bangkok Regional Consultation, ADB Asian Irrigation Forum, and GCARD3 Global Event. In addition, the team has also been involved in trainings like the GFAR-hosted social media training/bootcamp in Bangkok last year and this year's pre-GCARD3.  To help share the expiriences from these events... Continue reading

NO, conferences about “How to feed 9 billion by 2050?” do not have to be boring, grey haired, PowerPoint- followed by - PowerPoint and 100 - times - already - heard - solutions.  They can be- YES! – A great party, inspiring, motivating, ideas generating, fresh and juicy! That’s how I’ve experienced the Thought for Food Global Summit 2016 which succeeded... Continue reading