Agriculture is the next big thing as all creatures need food, and with the estimated nine billion people to be fed by 2050 all hands must be on deck to produce more food. The need to produce more food has opened up new frontiers of farming as many people are using unconventional means to grow food; many have turned to urban... Continue reading

Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme is open for 10,000 potential African entrepreneurs to fully benefit from the $100 Million awards.    One of Nigerian’s multi-billionaire and sponsor Tony Elumelu has approve $100 Million to establish 10,000 entrepreneurs across Africa over the next ten years. Tony Elumelu made the announcement recently during a press briefing in Lagos – Nigeria. This happened during the... Continue reading

With a vigorous rise in population, demand for food and food products is going up every day that puts an immense pressure on agriculture.  Such an increasing pressure consequently asks for an interminable availability and increased efficiency of inputs as irrigation and fertilizers. However, due to climate change, lack of proper government policy, overexploitation of natural resources and low resource use... Continue reading

I am currently attending the 8th Annual meeting of the GFRAS - Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services at Ingham, Townsville, Australia during 10-13 September, 2017 (#GFRASAPEN2017). Over 80 participants from 40 countries have gathered here to discuss more on rural advisory services and empowered youth for balanced transformation in rural and urban communities. The event is co-organised with the Australasia-Pacific Extension... Continue reading

Young agricultural professionals what actions do you as the present and future generation wish today’s custodians had taken to improve the agricultural sector? What strategies can you take now for improving positions of young people in agriculture? To explore what actions the present generation in agricultural development wish today’s custodians had taken to improve the position of young people in the... Continue reading

MFK Fisher once said, “First we eat, and then we do everything else.” Let me tell you about the power of doing business with food and agriculture in Africa. There are a few things you could go without for a week or even a month, right? Not food and water because without these, it would be plain impossible for humans to... Continue reading

In a bid to ensure a stronger social media visibility for FARA and African agricultural Research and Innovation in general, the Secretariat of FARA wishes to conduct a two-hour online media live chat (basically twitter) with the hashtag #FARAEDSPEAKS on Thursday, 7th September 2017. The live chat will serve as an avenue for online users to engage in discussions with the... Continue reading

With a common goal to transform the agricultural sector in Uganda, YPARD Uganda executive held a first face-to-face meeting. This is the first since they since they took office just several months ago. The meeting was to deliberate on key factors on how YPARD could contribute on to the development of agriculture and also make deliberations on what needs to be... Continue reading

The learning process is a big paradox, the more we learn and obtain new knowledge the more ignorant we feel. Nevertheless, I adore this process of learning new things and that’s one of the reasons why I enjoyed so much being part of “28th International Leadership Workshop for Rural Youth” held on the 9-22nd August 2017 in Herrsching am Ammersee, Germany.... Continue reading

Imagine how it would be like if the primary school with which you enrolled when you were younger had a farm. Picture the farm complete with a vegetable garden, a banana plantation, poultry, crickets, earthworms, and other animals. Also, visualize that tending of this farm was part of your school curricular activities and your daily routine for that matter. A glorious... Continue reading

We are delighted to welcome the incoming YPARD steering committee member:  Zhai Lin. Ms. Lin is a graduate of Bachelor of English Language and Literature degree in China and Master of European Law from the University of Leeds, UK. With full enthusiasm on international cooperation, in 2004,  Lin joined Department of International Cooperation of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and served... Continue reading

If you perform a quick list of your recently consumed meals, then honey might appear on the list.  Honey consumption was evident in the past, unfortunately, we have forgotten about this simple but great source of nutrients. In line with this fact, in some local and national beekeeping associations, it is a common habit to select a Honey-Queen to introduce the various useful... Continue reading

During the annual conference of IALB and EUFRAS taking place in Münster-Germany in June 2017, SEMA-project was awarded for its Mentoring approach included to the training system for entrepreneurship in multifunctional agriculture. The importance of exchange and learning from farmer to farmer and from entrepreneur to entrepreneur was highlighted by the Jury. Europes farmers are facing multiple challenges from the market... Continue reading

Life is not the same after 28th International Leadership Workshop for Rural Youth! We (Anna from YPARD Armenia, Hana from YPARD Kosovo and myself Seher Gumus from YPARD Turkey) attended the “28th International Leadership Workshop for Rural Youth” on the 9-22nd August 2017 in Herrsching am Ammersee, Germany thanks to the financial support of YPARD Europe. The workshop is for leaders... Continue reading

YES! – I was selected to the YES lab (Youth Encounter on Sustainability) and YPARD is partly supporting my trip. I believe the name of the lab wasn’t made by chance and I am inspired by the event. YES is a two-weeks intensive lab, which takes place from 27th August till 8th of September in San Jose and Talamanca, Costa Rica. It... Continue reading

As part of the increasing discourse towards global partnerships for mobilising resources to support sustainable development projects, the European Union (EU) Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) led the way by organising the Blending4Ag Conference in Brussels, Belgium on 7-8 November 2016. The Conference brought stakeholders from the private and public sectors, regional organisations, and Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to... Continue reading

The small holder farmers in Zimbabwe have for some time remained small and subsistence farmers due to the lack of market control. Mbare Musika is a hive of activity in the early morning as farmers deliver their produce. It is disheartening to know that many of these are small holder farmers who toil working their backs out in the scorching heat... Continue reading

In the wake of global efforts to improve financing for agriculture, the Bank of Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa – AGRA is designing the Ghana Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) programme. The goal of this instrument is to reduce the perceived risk of agriculture financing... Continue reading

‘Student-Farmer Interaction Program’ is a Mobile Approach for On-site Mentorship led by YPARD Nepal in collaboration and coordination with farmers’ groups and local partners. The program aims to provide farmers with technical and/ or advisory information on production and management techniques, and at the same time to facilitate two-way learning between agri-students and farmers. YPARD Nepal in collaboration with District Agriculture... Continue reading

Decades ago, importance was not really given to the livestock industry as most farmers’ concentrated effort on planting crops for household consumption and little for sale. In the same vein, few households who domesticated micro livestock mainly did so, for consumption during festive periods while few households then, understood the market value of trading these animals. The new age and era has... Continue reading