Waka Waka (This time for #GCARD3)

Waka Waka (This time for Africa) is a song popularized by Shakira. This song was used as the theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was a huge, global event as football fans from around the world descended on South Africa to witness excellence on the field.

Another global event is coming to the rainbow nation this April.

The GCARD3 is coming to Johannesburg, South Africa on April 5-8, 2016. The theme for this year's event is: "No One Left Behind: Agri-food Innovation and Research for a Sustainable World".

The 5 key themes of the event are:

• Scaling up: from research to impact;
• Demonstrating results and attracting investment;
• Keeping science relevant and future-focused;
• Sustaining the business of farming, and
• Ensuring better rural futures

All of these themes are very relevant today; especially, translating researches into things that impact that daily lives of the farmer. I would really like to be able to help farmers grasp scientific concepts in ways that they can easily understand. By doing so, this can help revolutionize the industry, making things easy to understand means more farmers will likely adopt new technologies.

As a farmer-entrepreneur, my goal is to help anyone plant, grow and harvest. I want to be able to help end the problem of food security, not only in the Philippines, but around the world. I also want to be able to connect the farmers to the latest technologies available; to keep them abreast with the latest production techniques, recently developed varieties and sustainable agriculture practices. I dream of equipping them with the right tools and help bridge the gap between scientists and farmers.

I was blessed to have been able to attend the GCARD3 Social Media Bootcamp held at Bangkok, Thailand in conjunction with the High Level Policy Dialogue on Investment in Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific hosted by the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI). As a member of the  Young Professionals for Agriculture Development (YPARD), 5 of us were selected to participate in the Social Media Bootcamp and the HLPD. The Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) made it possible for us to attend the event.

It was an eye-opener for me. It also gave me the opportunity to meet respected scientists, experts in the field of Agriculture and Business. The event changed me and has opened doors for me.

This is how being a member of YPARD impacted me:

If I will be blessed again to attend this event, I know that I will be able to learn so much more.

Attending the GCARD3 Regional Event has changed me greatly and I can only imagine what I will be able to see, hear, learn and experience in the GCARD3 Global Event.

The word Waka roughly translates to "do it.". I want to Waka. (do it; meaning attend it).

This time for #GCARD3.

This blog post is part of the GCARD3 Youth blogpost applications. The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.

This blog post was originally posted on Dax's blog: "plant, grow and harvest".

Picture credit: Eric Perez of PCAARRD