About 25 young professionals, youth champions from ACP countries and partners from international organizations working on Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development were brought together by the CTA from 14th to 16th November 2012 in Wageningen, The Netherlands, to participate in its Strategic Youth Stakeholder Workshop.

The first part of the workshop consisted of different panels, whereby the objective was to learn from the partners.  To open the day, CTA presented key elements of its 2011-2015 Strategic Plan.

The SPC Animal Health and Production team recently organised a short workshop for Year 2 students taking the Higher Diploma in Animal Health (DAH) course at Fiji National University.  The goal of the workshop, held on 8 June at SPC Nabua, was to expose the DAH students to some of the animal health activities undertaken in Fiji and the Pacific region.

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.

"SPAN’s issue of October and November featured Riten Gosai as one of the finalist for the CTA ARDYIS essay competition on the theme “Youth finding solutions to challenges in agriculture and rural development using ICTs” He was finally announced the winner for the Pacific in this essay competition. But on the 17th December 2010, Riten was awarded his Bachelor of Agriculture at the USP, Alafua Campus Graduation. It was indeed sweet success for this Nadi born young man as his hard work and commitment throughout his three years of study was distinctively awarded with the Gold Medal and the Minister of Agriculture Prize for the Most Outstanding Bachelor of Agriculture Graduate. He also won the Telefoni Retzlaff Memorial Prize for the Most Outstanding results in Animal husbandry and the Chan Mow Prize of $250 for the Most Outstanding Results in Agricultural Economics, Extensions and Education."

(Article published in the newsletter SPAN (from the University of South Pacific) Vol 35, No. 11 December 2010 ISSN 1015 - 950)

Listen here to an interview of Riten Gosai (video).

Interview with Riten Chand Gosai from Fiji (Pacific), finalist Ardyis contest

An increasing number of young people need employment, yet there are limited openings in the formal employment sector. If more young people can be supported to develop agricultural enterprises and view agriculture as a viable career option, then issues of youth unemployment, food security, and rural-urban drift can be addressed.

The Youth in Agriculture Strategy gives young people a greater voice in decision-making processes related to agriculture. The strategy is the result of a call made in 2008 by Ministers of Agriculture to explore ways in which young people could be supported to take up careers in agriculture. The strategy was endorsed at the 4th regional meeting of the Pacific Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services (HOAFS) in 2010.

Pacific Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services (HOAFS) were encouraged to embrace information and communications technology (ICT) and ‘e-agriculture’ in delivering products and services to stakeholders involved in the sector during the 4th HOAFS meeting in Nadi, Fiji Islands recently.

E-agriculture is the use of ICT to deliver services to the stakeholders of the agriculture sector. It is one of the key initiatives of the Framework for Action on ICT for Development in the Pacific (FAIDP), together with e-government, e-health and e-education.