Interview with Sithembile Ndema Mwamakamba, from Zimbabwe, who works at the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) where she coordinates the Youth in Agriculture project. She also manages the Women Accessing Realigned Markets (WARM) project designed to strengthen the capacity of women farmers to influence agricultural policy development in Southern Africa.

"With a greater focus on value chains in recent years, there are now far more opportunities for young people to find rewarding careers in the food and farming sector. However, governments need to formulate policies that capitalise on the energy and entrepreneurship of the youth to successfully attract them to the sector."

CTA’s web2.0 training programme has sparked enormous interest across ACP countries. Organisations and individuals have shown themselves hungry to learn about social tools and platforms which can support their collaborative work, and how social media can be adapted to their particular contexts and needs. But which groups are the most enthusiastic adopters of web2.0 tools, and what impact does that adoption have, in terms of personal development, institutional changes, and new opportunities for beneficiaries in the context of development?

Up to 200 people from Africa are being recruited to participate in the first Annual Africa Youth Assembly. The goal is to ensure that at least two young people from every African country are represented at this event, all with direct experience in youth-led development, so their valuable perspectives and realities provide a new paradigm for Africa’s development.

The CTA/UNITAR/FAO online tutored course entitled: "Innovative Collaboration for Development" on the use of Web. 2.0 tools for development will take place from 4 March to 3 May 2013  (in English and French).

A course to empower development professionals to use social media tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work.

Involving youth in agricultural development and decision making processes is key to ensuring sustainable development in Africa, and framing this within the context of ICTs and entrepreneurship provides a valuable dimension to the discourse of agricultural modernization and prosperity. Her Excellency Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of African Union Commission, said this while officiating at a workshop held in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, 29 March 2012, on youth, ICT and entrepreneurship in agriculture, organised by Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Co-operation (CTA) and NEPAD E-Africa Programme.

We are pleased to announce the names of the 15 finalists for the YoBloCo Awards – individual category, resulting from the voting process that took place from 5 to 31 December 2011. During this period, for the individual category, we received a total of 2214 votes, from 2080 people (voting for two blogs was possible) and more than 600 comments for the institutional category. This is a great outcome, and we would like to thank voters and everyone again for your support and your interest in this initiative.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with FARA, Yam-Pukri, CAFAN, AYF, ANAFE, SPC/PAFPNET is organizing the Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition (YoBloCo Awards). This contest is launched in the framework of the ARDYIS initiative which aims to raise youth awareness and improve their capacity on agricultural and rural development issues in ACP countries using  Information Technology.

Le concours de rédaction du CTA sur les jeunes, le développement rural et les TIC a été une expérience qui a mis aux prises des jeunes de divers pays d’Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP). Son intérêt est qu’il renseigne sur des expériences de beaucoup pays. Un membre du jury en l’occurrence Annie Chéneau - Loquay  par ailleurs directrice de recherche au CNRS et responsable de l’Observatoire Africa’NTI (projet de recherche sur les modes d'insertion, les usages et les impacts des technologies de la communication en Afrique) a décliné les enseignements qu’on peut tirer de ce concours.

By Gerald Musakaruka Mangena from Zimbabwe: Southern African Regional Winner of the CTA ARDYIS Essay contest

It is 7:00 in the morning, and a 28 year old Zimbabwean new farmer gets up to prepare for the day. This season she expects a good 500 tonnes of high quality potatoes. Today will be her first day of selling and she is still wondering where all these potatoes will be sold.

By Maureen Agena from Uganda: East African Regional Winner of the CTA ARDYIS Essay contest.

With over 88% of Uganda’s Population of 29 million being rural based and depending almost entirely on agriculture at various levels of livelihoods. It is widely held that access to accurate and timely information by rural communities can not only increase agricultural productivity; it can also result into enhanced economic and social development.