Presentation by Dr. Gbade' Odularu (FARA)

1. A movement by youth, for youth, for
agricultural development.
A global platform of young professionals
under 40 years of age active in
Agricultural Research for Development
(ARD)

2. Rationale
 Insufficient participation of YPs in dialogues
 Limited access to opp.
• Absence of PT to voice YP’s ideas, opinions and concerns
• Declining interest in agric.
Obj.:
1. Facilitate I&K exc among Yps: disciplines, professions, age and
regions
2. Broaden opp for YPs to contribute to strategic ARD policy
debates
3. To promote agriculture among young people
4. To facilitate access to resources and capacity building
opportunities

3. Distribution: 5215 members from 146countries -
Our Stakeholders: universities, research
institutions, donor
organizations, NGOs/CSOs, govt
agencies, farmers organizations, private
sector, etc

4. Coordination offices
Global Coordination Unit
at
at
at
at

5. Coordination offices
at
Kenya, Benin, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Mali, Zambia, South
Africa, Nigeria, Madagascar*, Mauritius*, Burundi*, Malawi, Mali, Ivory
Coast, Uganda, Senegal, Namibia*, Cameroon*, Morocco, Guinea, and
Ethiopia
15 CRs and still counting….
Country membership expanding…..

6. Benefits of YPARD membership?
 Information on funding
opportunities, jobs, fellowships, news in ARD and more!
 YPARD newsletter to keep up-to-date on activities of
interest to YPs in ARD
 Online interaction with YPs around the globe
 Opportunities to apply to represent YP interests at meetings
and workshops
 Getting involved in the peer2peer mentoring programme
 Becoming a representative and building your professional
experience
 Actively contributing to a more dynamic ARD!

7. Some YPARD-Africa activities:
1. Facilitate exchange of information and knowledge
among young professionals across disciplines,
professions, age and regions.
 Online platform at www.ypard.net enables young
professionals to share information, engage in online
discussions and blog about your experiences
2. Broaden opportunities for young professionals to
contribute to strategic ARD policy debates.
 Have enabled YPs to attend and contribute to several
events including: AfricaAdapt, YALDA events, 5th and 6th
AASW & FARA GA, etc

8. Activities, cont’d
3. Promote agriculture among young people.
 Engage in studies to examine the declining interest of
YPs in ARD, eg.
4. Facilitate access to resource and capacity building
opportunities
 This includes organising capacity building opportunities
in collaboration with partners: workshops on grant
writing , on agro-entrepreneurship and training for Yps;
Facebook-YPARD, & other trad. & modern media tools
 Information services to members: Facebook-YPARD,
emails, funding opportunities and information relevant
to YPs in ARD

9. What else? We‘re looking for...
 More members!
 Expanding YP members in different stakeholder
groups
 Increasing institutional linkages
 More young professionals driving the process –
ideas coming from a local level
 More dynamic online discussions
 More young faces and voices at key ARD debates
 Innovative and youth led ARD!

10. Thank You
Merci
Sign up now ! @ www.ypard.net
and