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

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

In Africa, Agriculture is wider than just a profession; it is a culture. It is a treasure handed down to us by God through our ancestors. With it many lives were and are still being transformed, many stories have been re-written and nations built. The western countries are what they are today and are still surviving as a result of the... Continue reading

Last Month, I participated in the Agricultural Biotechnology and Biosafety Workshop, organized by the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB), Nigeria, Program for Biosafety System and other partners.  The event showcased series of presentations from scientists on the research around genetic engineered  crops; Presentations from the Media on why Negative stories around genetic engineered crops sells faster than positive... Continue reading

Since its inception, YPARD has grown rapidly, demonstrating the need and value that young professionals see in a youth focused network.  This is moreso reflected in the recently released YPARD 2015 annual report which takes into account all the activities YPARD community has been involved in for the last one year.Among these notable activities include; Communication both Online and Offline In... Continue reading

Machteld Schoolenberg was the first YPARD Web4Knowledge intern in 2011. Since then, her involvement with YPARD activities has incredibly evolved. At the occasion of YPARD 10 years celebrations, Machteld's story is a powerful means to show why and how much YPARD's work is relevant to its community of young professionals in agricultural development. It’s ten years of YPARD, but for me,... Continue reading

Many people in Bangladesh believe that ICT in Agriculture is like an infantile while others think differently. The world is becoming a global tech village and we need to think about its use in agriculture. Bangladesh agriculture is a very important contributor in the country's GDP  with the figures from the Ministry of Agriculture showing its total contribution in 2015 was... Continue reading

Agriculture is at crossroads.  There are many positive and negative changes taking place in the sector each day, all of which require that collective solutions be sought by the young and the old people. Higher education plays a critical role in training the next generation of scientists and agriculture professionals, as shown by the interview below, with a young professional in... Continue reading

The Young Professionals for Agricultural Development’s network (YPARD) is looking for three – 3 - interns – an English speaker, a Francophone and a Spanish speaker - to join the YPARD’s Global Communications team and expand its information services and communications.  WANTED! Do you have a background in agricultural related fields, natural resource management, ICT4D or similar fields?Are you passionate about and... Continue reading

This blogpost by Rustam Ibragimov originally appeared on the GFAR blog. I will tell you something that is not new to any of us. Today, nearly 1 billion people across the world face the problem of undernourishment. Agricultural development organizations do their best to tackle this ‘number one’ issue which is a problem of the whole generation nowadays and the generations... Continue reading

At the occasion of YPARD 10 years, YPARD Country representative: Sokhna Rokhaya GAYE tells how she got involved with YPARD, how YPARD Senegal shaped up to become a strong YPARD Chapter and how it benefited her personally. Freshly graduated with a Master's degree in sociology, I was still looking for my way in 2012. Like any early bird researcher, I had... Continue reading

Marlene Heeb is YPARD’s focal point at SDC - Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation: a key support of YPARD from its beginnings. At the occasion of YPARD’s 10 year anniversary, Marlene reflects on YPARD’s vision and what it means for SDC to “invest in the youth” for agricultural development. Who is the youth? When I joined the SDC Global Program Food... Continue reading

Information and communication technology has just upgraded our world of agri-infotainment to a whole  new level. Around many corners of the globe, where, there exists an ever-reigning constraint of access to information, Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) has been delivering considerable treatments to this problem every nanosecond. With the approach to "right to access for information", AgriYouthNepal in collaborative support of YPARD... Continue reading

2016’s 10year celebrations of the young professionals for agricultural development’s network (YPARD) are generating a series of festivities online and on the ground, all around the world and throughout the year. The third Global Conference for Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD3) offered the floor for the YPARD’s global face-to-face anniversary. A hundred of people – young and senior – from every... Continue reading

My story of how I got to attend the #enableyouth Program is quite interesting as my initial plan was to come to Abuja briefly, do an agribusiness branding presentation and head back to Birnin Kebbi( Very few people know Kebbi is a state in Nigeria). Soon after settling in Abuja I updated my Facebook status on my proposed presentation. One of... Continue reading

What drives young people to join networks? How does membership of a network strengthen one’s position in society?  As a member of several networks such as YPARD, Prolinnova (Promoting local innovation) and Youth Food movement, these are some of the questions I ask myself at times. Generally, when people talk about networks, they talk about creating a sense of belonging, building... Continue reading

Animal health is the biggest restriction to improving productivity of livestock in Ghana, where myriad of local diseases restrict animal productivity and cause high mortality rates. This is due to the reluctance by smallholders to administer vaccines, lack of knowledge about available medicines and the cost of and access to vaccinations and other medication. Over 50% of local farmers have not gone... Continue reading

Farmers in Kenya are unable to realize full potential from their businesses due to lack of training. For the youth to engage in productive farming and improve their livelihoods they need to get access to affordable agricultural training. Many private farms in Kenya have taken up the initiative to train farmers on various crops and animal management skills. These farms and... Continue reading

Livestock sector contributes enormously in the economies of the developed or the developing countries. Livestock and the personnel related to veterinary sciences be it veterinarians, livestock attendants, livestock assistants, livestock handlers or stockmen play an integral part in bringing forth the very improvements and developments in the livestock sector and hence in the country as a whole. The contributions made by... Continue reading

Back in 2015 As an undergraduate, my practical involvement in agriculture has taught me that agricultural practice goes beyond the four walls of the classroom.  Combining both the practical experience and theoretical learning is essential to conceive practical ways to support agriculture. Let me introduce you to my initiative, called AgrindusNetwork, started in 2015. It is a paradigm shift from the... Continue reading