What is ARDYIS?

YPARD takes the opportunity of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2011: Better life in rural communities with ICTs, 17 May, to sollicit any ICT4Agriculture enthusiast to join and launch discussion on the Website. www.ypard.net

For YPARD, Young Professionals'Platform on Agricultural Research for Development, ICTs are obviously one the key factors for YPs to get more into Agriculture and to be successful at it!

Take the opportunity to share your views and sensitize YPARD members on this fundamental factor! We are eager hearing from you!

Blog! http://ypard.net/young-professionals/blogs/
Discuss on our Forum: http://ypard.net/interact/forum/
For more info, contact : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The World Youth Report focus on youth and climate change, and is intended to highlight the important role young people play in addressing climate change, and to offer suggestions on how young people might be more effectively integrated as individuals and collective agents of change within the realm of climate change adaptation and mitigation.The Report is designated to assist youth and youth organizations in educating themselves and to become more actively involved in combating the threat of climate change. It is also meant to affirm the status of young people as key stakeholders in the fight against climate change. The publication comes at a time when efforts to address climate change are receiving unparalleled attention on the international arena, offering youth a unique opportunity for their voice to be heard in the debate.

More information and to read the report

Report By Zvavanyange Raymond Erick¹

Last month during March 7-11, 2011, I participated in a youth training and exchange workshop in Ghana on Web 2.0 and social media for Development in Agriculture and Rural Development. The training was sponsored by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Development (CTA) (www.cta.int)  based in the Netherlands and facilitated by Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (CSIR-INSTI) of Ghana. Through its Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in Information Society (ARDYIS) project, CTA brought together more than 18 youths from English and French speaking countries in Africa, all united by the same passion of improving agriculture through the use of  information communication technologies (ICTs). Additional resources on Web 2.0 and social media for development such as  the Information Management Kit (IMARK)(http://www.imarkgroup.org) from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) were used for e-learning practice.

By Thérèse Burke & Ken Lohento

Agriculture in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) faces many challenges. Most of these developing economies are heavily reliant on this sector for food security and economic growth. Agriculture accounts for over 50 percent GDP in some countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. This coupled with the high percentage of population (up to 60 percent in Africa) living off the land, means that the need to secure the continued interest of youth in agriculture is imperative.

However, global attention is now turning to agricultural and rural development as a result of the 2007-2008 food price crisis. Despite this, it is still not perceived as an attractive industry for the younger population.