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Highlights

The narrative of a young successful Kenyan is to go to school, get good grades and secure a nice job. Elijah Njoroge went to school, got good grades but never got a job. In fact, he has never applied for one. He defied the narrative. He knew that he would never be employed.

So he went to school, got good grades and secured networks. He believes that networks are the lifeline of any successful business.  Getting to interact with future architects, civil engineers and horticulturalists at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) was the key to success for the Biotechnology and Microbiology graduate.

As COP20 kicks off in Peru, Shweta Adhikari, a student at the Agriculture and Forestry University in Nepal, writes about seven climate-smart solutions for agriculture and how they are being put into action across the globe. This blog is part of our ongoing series with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development network (YPARD).

Climate risk has been rising dramatically, bringing with it fears for associated species loss and habitat degradation. This comes as population growth is spiralling and urbanisation is increasing. Agriculture now requires greater transformation in order to ensure food security and reduce the impacts (or ‘mitigate’) this climate change.

#NYFAED15 - National Youth Forum on Agro- based Entrepreneurship DevelopmentNepalese agriculture is undergoing rapid changes. While a large number of experienced human resources are retiring, young professionals are taking their places, generating wider gaps in updating agricultural research and knowledge. Besides, the lack of adequate agricultural workers has resulted in a growing tendency to farms fallow.

Adaptation to climate change has added a further challenge for agricultural development in Nepal. However, there is a small but growing number of young people who are reorganizing farming into viable enterprises through sustainable intensification, and creative marketing. In this context, the challenge for agricultural development is two-fold: how to expand these emerging sustainable practices, and how to inspire more young professionals to choose agriculture as a professional career to replace retiring farmers.

Young entrepreneurs in rural Africa as drivers for job creationAfrica is the world's youngest continent, with two-thirds of its labour force working on farms and at least another 15% in small rural enterprises.Can Africa’s rural economy create enough jobs for predominantly young job-seekers? SMEs could be an entryway to engage Africa's youth as entrepreneurs in the labour market. But farming might not be their best option.

Africa is a young, rural continent. Two-thirds of its labour force work on farms and at least another 15% in small rural enterprises. Urbanization is slowing down. Potts (2012) points out that the rate at which African countries are urbanizing has decreased or is even stagnating. Africa’s rural population is expected to continue growing until 2050 and, with the median age of its population amounting to only 18 years old, Africa is also the world’s “youngest” continent.

The University of Western Australia is offering a free online course on the economics of agriculture, natural resources and the environment.

This course is about agricultural production and the interaction between agriculture and the environment. The material presented can help us understand changes that have occurred in agriculture, and support improved decision making about things like agricultural production methods, agricultural input levels, resource conservation, and the balance between agricultural production and its environmental impacts.

An exciting collaboration between the CGIAR Research Program on Water Land and Ecosystems (WLE), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature (LPFN) Initiative kicks off this week: a month of online conversation about the promise and potential pitfalls of large landscape initiatives. The Blog Month mirrors the topic of WLE and CIAT's upcoming Global Landscapes Forum session on the same theme.

Check out the introductory post on the Agriculture and Ecosystems Blog, where you will be able to find a link to every post in the blog month as they go live.

The Food and Agriculture Organization in collaboration with the Governments of Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda launched yesterday the Eastern Africa project ‘Promoting Nutrition Sensitive Agricultural Diversification to Fight malnutrition and Enhance Youth employment Opportunities in Eastern Africa’.

The Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries endorsed the project’s commitment to engaging the youth in aquaculture and poultry production in order to boost market opportunities emphasizing that it is important to facilitate access to markets and to enhance the capacity of young producers in marketing and agribusiness skills.

Pioneer firms are bringing innovative solutions to resource-poor farmers in places where governments and traditional aid have fallen short. But what needs to happen to spur sustained adoption of the innovations on offer that will allow these firms to serve hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of smallholder farmers?  The work of these pioneer firms is simply too important to remain small scale, and there is potential for a real breakthrough in the next 5 to 10 years. With this study, we hope to shift the odds more in favor of pioneer firms and the smallholder farmers they serve.

Three key findings from our research point to what these firms and other actors must do.