Opportunities in Agriculture: You’ll be surprised.

I’m already surprised 

Some weeks ago, I got a chance to attend the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research and Development at Punta del Este Uruguay as a Kenyan youth in agriculture delegate with Young Professionals in Agricultural Research and Development (YPARD) with the mere reason of bringing a global youth voice to Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D). 

Well in a conference attended by close to 800 people drawn from all over the world, only 36 onsite  of them comprised of young people representing YPARD or being part of the social reporting team or both.

So this leaves us with the query of are youths really participating in agricultural research for development? If so, which are some of the avenues they can tap to keep their dream alive?

Meet YPARD an international movement by young professionals for young professionals whose main agenda as per its mission is to “serve as a global platform through which young professionals (under 40) can express their ideas and realize their full potential towards a dynamic agricultural research for development”. Theirs is the vision of creating sustainably improved livelihoods worldwide, through dynamic agricultural research for development.  

The movement came in to place as an avenue of expressing the lack of interest of youths in agriculture and related careers and their subsequent lack of representation in dialogues concerning the same not forgetting the lack of resources for the same.

So what do they do?

Etched in their global operations are four actions they undertake to achieve their vision

• Building a strong network by linking with organizations active in Agricultural Research for Development and youth issues. More so by spreading the YPARD word and getting people involved on the same
• Giving a voice to the youths by either promoting greater inclusion of youths in the strategic ARD debates or speaking on their behalf and bringing their issues of concern on the table
• Capacity building and information sharing by either providing information on funding, job opportunities and events. They also facilitate access to capacity building opportunities
• Promoting agriculture among the young people by working to address the issue of declining interest in agriculture among the young people
• Besides this, they also other services to young professionals like you which include
• Updated information on their website of available opportunities, events and featured news on agriculture
• Bimonthly funding news bulletin and monthly newsletters covering the latest happenings in agriculture
• A chance for representing other youths in your region in the ARD debates and discussions
• A podium to share your experiences in ARD and even more give an opinion on matters relating to agriculture and youth involvement

So what are you waiting for? Get involved today

HOW

• Sign up at www.ypard.net and be part of the network
• Contribute actively to the online discussions and events
• Write a blog for them concerning your experience in the AR4D
• Stay connected with them on through social networks LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook

 

Young professionals rule!

Don’t count the youth out of agricultural research for development. Photo: CIMMYT

The Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD 2012) brought together all groups of stakeholders: from researchers to donors such as the FAO, EC or IFAD, to farmers organizations or the private sector.

The surprise at the conference co-organized by GFAR and the CGIAR Consortium was the recognition of the role that young professionals play in AR4D. For the first time in such a high level event, an international organization by youth for youth had the opportunity to be “the voice” of young professionals in this field of expertise. GCARD 2012 was the place where YPARD (the Young Professionals’ Platform for Agricultural Research for Development) was given the opportunity to organize both a full day pre-conference meeting on “Engaging with youth and working with them to shape the future of ARD” and participating in a live webcasted session on “Individual Learning and the Empowerment of Women and Youth” where YPARD had the possibility of presenting its opinion on the aging population in ARD and the measures that should be taken in order to involve more young professionals in both agriculture and agricultural research.

Young professionals were also given a voice through the Social Reporting team. 32 young people from all over the world made sure that AR4D is back in the spotlight and brought to the attention of world leaders. We used all kind of tools such as Twitter, Facebook, live webcasting, Storify, Delicious or blog posts and they managed to get people excited in what’s going on in Uruguay and the AR4D world.

Sometimes it is hard to feel the censorship of meetings behind closed doors or the pressure put on their shoulders by the fact that they represent not only their universities/organizations/research institutes, both also their countries and an entire generation. Nevertheless, this small group of young professionals made quite an impression.

Day after day, the shyness of people disappeared and everybody was asking about “those young professionals“. We were not shy. We talked with everybody, we discussed about GMOs and food security. We said our opinions about how should youth and women be better represented in AR4D.

We gave our honest opinions about every subject even when that opinion seemed to step on some toes.

Here are a few highlights of what we think:

Sustainable Ego-systems – by Machteld Schoolenberg

Watch your back – by Santiago Fernandez

The Global Food Policy – by Codrin Paveliuc Olariu

WHO`s Listening? – Youth. Women. Empowerment. - by Keron Bascombe

I want to be President – by Keron Bascombe, Idowu Ejere and Dinesh Panday

We proved that it is worthwhile to get young professionals involved. Our input should not be related just to social reporting.  Through our blog posts and social reporting we gave valuable content, creating new lines of actions for working on future challenges.

But we are still young, creative and, besides giving feedback and added value to an experienced community of researchers, we brought something else to the GCARD 2012: our young spirit. By excellence, this drives us forward and, through its creative nature and its energy, the world around it.

On the last day of the GCARD 2012, after the six field trips that were organized, all the participants gathered for a “farewell dinner.” We are young and energetic and we make the others feel the same way also.

All the young professionals at the GCARD 2012 deserve a round of applause. They represented their countries and their generation with great honor and…they did a great job.

Follow these people in the future as you will surely hear only great things about their work:

Nawsheen Hosenally (Mauritius), Emmie Kio Wachira (Kenya), Luis Suarez (Peru), Sridhar Gutam (India), Jieying Bi (China), Codrin Paveliuc Olariu (Romania), Federico Sancho Guevara(Costa Rica), Matsimbe Msekiwa (Malawi), Olawale Isaiah Ojo (Nigeria), Caity Peterson (USA),Dans Johnson (Sierra Leone), Myriam Perez (Spain), Machteld Schoolenberg (Netherlands),Dinesh Panday (Nepal), Marina Cherbonnier (France), Cristina Iglesias (Ecuador), Meerim Shakirova (Kyrgistan), Firdavs Kabilov (Uzbekistan), Mai Touma (Syria), Yash Sahrawat (India),Idowu Ejere (Nigeria), Keron Bascombe (Trinidad & Tobago), Randall Cordero (Costa Rica),Bernardo Thompson (Uruguay), Carolina Minchiotti (Uruguay), Fernanda Falcone (Uruguay),Juan Pablo Albornoz (Uruguay), Natalia Gerpe (Uruguay), Noelia de los Santos (Uruguay),Rodrigo Torres (Uruguay), Santiago Fernandez (Uruguay), Tatiana Cortazzo (Uruguay), Victoria Pereira (Uruguay).

Blogpost by the Young Professionals present at GCARD2

Reblogged from the GCARD2 Blog

The GCARD2 social media team receives certificate from Uruguay’s Minister of Agriculture

Members of the GCARD2 social media team receive their certificates from Uruguay’s Minister of Agriculture, Sunday.

After 2 days of intensive training on social media and social reporting, the GCARD2 Social Media Team received their Certificate from H.E. Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Tabaré Aguerre

The opening ceremony of the second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2) took place on 28th October 2012 at the Conrad Hotel in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
Over 700 participants from around the world were present and came to discuss and share experiences on the 3 themes of the conference: Foresight, Partnerships and capacity building. The main issue to be addressed here is how to innovate and have high quality research so that the results help improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers?


Present at the opening ceremony of the conference were the GFAR Chair, Monty Jones, CGIAR Consortium Board Chair, Mr. Carlos Perez del Castillo, the President of IFAD, Kanayo Nwanze, and H.E Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. Tabaré Aguerre.

In his speech, Mr. Monty Jones introduced the 3 themes of the conference and highlighted that Uruguay is a good location for the GCARD2, since they have many best practice case studies to learn from when it comes to agriculture and involving smallholder farmers for agricultural development.
The CGIAR Consortium Board Chair, Mr. C.P.del Castillo shared with the audience the importance of research for agricultural development and gave examples from the work being done by CGIAR. According to him, climate change will have a significant impact on Agriculture and the CGIAR has undergone reform to adapt to the situation. The research being carried out by the CGIAR centres is being done collectively on a wide range of topics.

The speech of the chair of IFAD, Mr. Kanayo Nwanze, was very focused on the conference themes. He highlighted that 2 years ago, Agricultural development was not acknowledged at national, regional and international level, but today it is not the case anymore. Agriculture is the concern of every one of us. The President of IFAD said that today we have the interest, commitment and funding, but how do we seize the opportunity?

Climate change is is here and going to affect us, and the President of IFAD said that future research to be carried out should be focused on climate smart agriculture. To do so, there should be partnerships among different stakeholders. Mr. Nwanze believes that f we want a change, we need to work with the farmers in the field and it is there that the impact of research will be seen. And he ended his speech with a very interesting statement: “The day when no child dies from hunger and malnutrition, we will know our work has been done”!

The Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. Tabaré Aguerre gave an overview of Agriculture in Uruguay. He said that Uruguay is a net exporting country, while many countries in the world are net importers. But we have the same environment, challenges and opportunities. How has Uruguay been able to achieve success in its Agricultural sector?

In fact, the Uruguayan Agricultural strategy is based on competitiveness, social integration and natural resources policies, and we have a lot to learn from the country.

For the youth of the Social Media Team, it was a great privilege to receive their certificate for social media and social reporting from the hands of the Minister. As some said, it was a magical moment that will be engraved in our memories!

And talking about rewards and recognition to attract youth to agriculture, this is a concrete example of how young agriculture professionals from all over the world got the opportunity to cover the conference events and interact with the agriculture professionals present in Uruguay!

Blogpost by Nawsheen Hosenally, one of the GCARD2 Social Reporters.
Photo: Bernardo Thompson

Reblogged from the GCARD2 Blog : http://gcardblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/the-gcard2-social-media-team-receives-certificate-from-uruguays-minister-of-agriculture/#more-2315

The ups and downs of a peri-urban farmer

 Deep in the heart of Kikuyu district in Kenya, you are likely to meet up with a few small scale farmers busy in their farms or plots. Nevertheless, few possesse the joys of narrating how a hobby turned to a commercial venture like one farmer does.

Meet Patrick Njogu Gitau a peri-urban small scale farmer since 1993. His 2 ½ acre of land, a major source of livelihood for  his wife and children, is situated West of Nairobi approximately 25 km from the City Center. He is indeed a happy man. His eyes can tell it all and as they say the eyes are the windows to the soul

So what lights his face this much?

Nineteen years ago Patrick was just an ordinary subsistence farmer. His farm, besides being a source of produce for his family, played the role of a hobby.  Time and dynamic agricultural ways caught up with him necessitating him to try new ways of farming. That’s when the idea of being a commercial small scale horticulturalist came to mind.

Knowing he didn’t possess the skills needed for his new found initiative, he sought help from the agricultural extension officers in Kikuyu on how to go about it. The extension officers proved quite supportive to his venture in terms of advice.

“But now I am very happy. Kenyan farmers have moved from subsistence economy to commercial business in agriculture” says an elated Patrick.

New technologies

Patrick acknowledges the mushrooming of new technologies as a force behind the success of his venture.  Take for example the green houses which are effectively minimizing water usage in farms, while ensuring maximum profit from the produce.

Despite the joys of his new found venture, he notices the presence of gaps in agricultural research. In return, he makes a polite request to researchers from the international community to get firsthand information from farmers which in turn assists the researchers in addressing the specific needs of the farmers.

“The requirements of this place are not the requirements for another place” Notes an observant Patrick.

Well all is not doomed in the field of agricultural research and development which not only improves the lives of small scale farmers but also feeds an entire nation and frees it from the burden of food insecurity.

His parting shot to the world: “We are always ready for changes.  To change for better not for worse.”
I couldn’t agree no more!

This blogpost was written for the GCARD Blog  by Emmie Kio, one of the GCARD2 social reporters.

Find the original blogpost here :  http://gcardblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/the-ups-and-downs-of-a-peri-urban-farmer/

Does Agricultural Research Deliver?

Flash back to 2007 

Am seated in an agronomy class in my first year stay in campus and the lecturer in front is talking about  extension officers and their link to helping improve agriculture which happens to be the backbone of our economy..My mind clouds with thoughts and I hear the lecturer saying tidbits about …training…advise..

Extension officers?  Wait a minute! Agricultural extension officers? Who are they? What do they do?  Whom are they supposed to help/advise/train?

Prior to joining Egerton University to study a Bachelor of agribusiness management, I had never come across agricultural extension officers, where I grew up, in Nanyuki, Kenya! Never mind its vast grassland area which supports a range of livestock. Basic knowledge on the importance of deworming animals was lacking causing farmers to give the animals a homemade concoction of boiled Aloe Vera and boiled tree twigs. The result? Deterioration of animals health and subsequent death.

This led me to volunteer during holidays as an extension officer with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of livestock Development in the Coast province to learn bits about extension advice. With participation in extension officers’ field days, I learnt a lot and took part in information dissemination to farmers in the coastal areas specifically on the Nerica rice variety which does well in arid areas and improved bee keeping methods. Later on I replicated my knowledge and still I am, to farmers in Nanyuki with the help of the administration authorities.

Flash forward to 2012
I am seated on my desk watching the video of Joseph Kaguatha narrate his farming ordeals in Lari District of Kenya. And I fully understand what he says. Just like other rural farmers, he faces the common challenges in his subsistence farming trade:

• Dependence on rain fed agriculture
• Land subdivision and fragmentation resulting to lower land productivity hence food insecurity at the household level.
• Lack of extension advice from the agricultural extension officers placed at district levels.
• Lack of new technologies in farming e.g.  Water harvesting or alternatives water sources for agricultural purposes.
• Agricultural researches not reaching the intended beneficiary hence no impact felt at ground i.e. the rural farmers

All is not lost and Joseph believes these challenges could be solved if partnership is maintained between the research institutions, government extension officers and the farmers.
The second Global Conference on Agricultural Research and development (GCARD2) happening in Uruguay seeks to address among others the theme of Partnership and its relation to agricultural research for Development. Do join the proceedings form 29^th October to 1^st November online, and highlight any issue you feel is affecting you or other farmers in any Agricultural related field.

This blogpost  was written for GCARD Blog  by Emmie Kio( Me), one of  the GCARD2 social reporters.

Find the original post here:   http://gcardblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/does-agricultural-research-deliver/

Breaking off the poverty chains: Urban farming in Nairobi, Kenya

Quite a number of us have practiced backyard farming: Rabbit keeping, vegetable/kitchen farming, poultry keeping and so forth in rural areas. These we keep as pets or even as a source of ready vegetables and meat for our daily consumption.

The rapid increase in urbanization and subsequent rise in urban food insecurity has resulted to the mushrooming of this kind of agriculture in urban centers with scholars naming it Urban Agriculture .In essence it translates to keeping animals and growing crops in the cities. It’s either conducted in the cities (intra urban) through ways like sack gardening or outside the cities confines (Peri urban) in green houses, on off-farm plots or on large acreage farmers.

A boost to this form of farming has come by from the support several national and international organizations who have showcased the venture as a good means for solving the problem of food insecurity in urban centers of developing world. This in turn has led to Kenyan agricultural researchers incorporating it as an important aspect in the Kenyan land policy.

So how important is urban farming?

According to Resources for Urban Agriculture Foundation (RUAF) come 2020, 75% of most of the populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America will be concentrated in the urban centers. A majority of these cities economies are at their developing stage which will then translate to rising of issues like unemployment, inadequate nutrition, food insecurity and buildup of wastes in urban centers soaring up. Urban farming comes in to help mitigate some of these issues through its various actors the likes of the urban poor, the women, the researchers and mid -level government officials.
Urban farming shows a lot of potential in:

•  Ensuring food security and provision of necessary nutrition. Less transport costs to the markets are incurred which in turn offers a fair produce price to the poorest of the poor in the urban areas.
•  Boosting the economic status of a family. Less money is spent in purchase of vegetables and there is notable barter exchange with other commodities.
•  Social impacts to disadvantaged and marginalized members of the society. Women groups, orphans and immigrants by giving them decent livelihoods in urban areas.
•  Researchers disseminating agricultural research to farmers as they are able to interact freely with them know their farming needs and develop new technologies  based on the specific needs identified.
• Greening the cities. Treated waste water from sewers is used to irrigate farms while  waste vegetable matter  in municipal dump sites are used to provide organic compost in farms hence reducing pollution to these urban centers.

Research should be “bottom heavy”
In the video at the top of the post, Mary Njenga, an agricultural researcher in Nairobi, not only talks about her passion for urban farming and why she is glad of its incorporation in the land policy of Kenya. She also calls for a shift in the attitude and approach of researchers. “People are tired of researchers coming to take soil samples or crop samples, or yet another questionnaire”, she says. “Research should be bottom heavy. Innovation that researchers build, should come from the farmers.”


This blogpost  was written  for the GCARD Blog  by Emmie Kio, one of  the GCARD2 social 
 reporters.

Link to the original post :  http://gcardblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/breaking-off-poverty-chains-case-urban-farming-nairobi-kenya/#more-1663

The Road from GCARD1 to GCARD2, and Beyond........

The three main themes of The Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2)  are:

• Foresight for Impact- Matching research priorities to future development needs
• Partnerships for impact
• Capacity development for impact

The key elements emanate from the GCARD1 Roadmap which paved way for relevant and more responsive agricultural research for all development systems in the world. GCARD2 builds its foundation on it, looking at where we stand currently, how the changes they predicted/promised are happening and what impacts can be shown.

So what are these elements, their corresponding outcomes and their links to the conference themes?

Theme “F”: Foresight for Impact:
GCARD2 offers a chance for all stake holders to think beyond the conference to see ways in which the future agricultural challenges present themselves and the needs of smallholder farmers can help in shaping the process of agricultural innovation.

Expected Outcome I: Through a Global Foresight Hub, collective actions will be agreed upon with the major purpose of bringing together all analyses and reviews of future Agricultural Research For Development (AR4D) needs from all international, regional and national stakeholders. This will form part in creating better policies and in so priorities for research oriented organizations.

Theme “P”: Partnerships:
As the old adage goes; No man is an island. In the same way, no organization, no matter how good it is, survives in a vacuum. The same applies to GCARD2 as it looks for partnerships along its areas of research and development that will help reaching the aim of improving the lives of millions of people in the world.

Expected Outcome II: there is a great likelihood of success on the side of impacts for smallholders. This is for the mere fact that there will be agreements on common purposes and mutual commitments to the objectives of CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) and other global partnerships programs.

Theme “C”: Capacity Development:
Institutional Learning and empowerment of Youths
Looking closer we see few youths interested in agricultural related careers with particular interest women. What new skills and capabilities do you feel are lacking? How can we attract and retain young people in these agricultural careers? GCARD2 will focus on determining investment needs in various levels of agricultural research and development for different generation groups.

Expected Outcome III:  A spring up of major new initiatives globally, launched to address capacity needs in the areas of investment and careers. This in turn will lead to increased investments, creation of more attractive agricultural careers and key barriers to the impact of agricultural research and innovation addressed.

Empowerment of Women
According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in The State of Food and Agriculture , women play a vital role in advancing agricultural development and food security. They are efficient agricultural producers and can achieve higher yields given the same resources their counterpart men are given. And agricultural research definitely needs more of them as African Women in Agricultural Research and Development demonstrates in their working. GCARD looks in to the specific needs of women producers and puts them central in the process of agricultural research and rural development.

Expected Outcome IV: Creation of Collective actions committed to reshape AR4D systems to better reflect women’s perspectives and enable their direct access to innovation products and services.

Reporting Framework:
The GCARD2 offers a chance for all stakeholders, sectors and regions to report on their activities and the progress they have achieved in the delivery of GCARD Roadmap. This will help in creating check points of where they stand at present, what went well and what could have been done in a much better way.

Expected Outcome V: There will be a demonstration of renewed commitments to transforming and strengthening AR4D systems at international, regional and national levels. This will form the basis for GCARD3 in 2014.

This blogpost was written by Emmie Kio and uploaded by Robert Kibaya, two of the GCARD Social Reporters for the GCARD2 Conference .Original post can be found at  http://gcardblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/road-from-gcard1-to-gcard2/


Picture courtesy Peter Casier/CCAFS

GCARD: More than a mere conference!

 

October 2012 is going to mark an important event for those involved in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D). More than 600 people from all over the world will attend the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2), organized by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), in association with CGIAR, the global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future. We expect close to 1,000 people to participate to the conference remotely, through our webcasting and social reporting.

Development changes needed to achieve the Millennium and Development Goals (MDGs) are often complex and require actions and interactions of multiple stakeholders at national, regional and international levels. The GCARD process is about reshaping agricultural innovation and its significance in meeting key MDGs. It brings together all sectors involved in AR4D: The public sector, national and international policy makers, agricultural Institutions, agricultural research systems managers, leaders of farmer organizations and cooperatives, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, universities, private sector enterprises in agri-business and farming, investors, donors and philanthropic organizations etc..

The GCARD process also provides a unique mechanism to collectively examine the realities of achieving impacts at scale and what steps and changes will need to be put into place now to reap the benefits of agricultural research, knowledge and innovation in meeting national and international development needs.

From GCARD1 to GCARD2

The First Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD 1) was held in Montpellier, France from 28^th to 31^st March 2010, during which the GCARD Roadmap was developed. The GCARD Roadmap proposes a series of transformative measures required to enhance the contribution of agricultural research and innovation towards development outcomes. The Roadmap sets out commonsense, practical measures, applicable and acceptable across all sectors and scales. It identifies 6 key areas in which the transformation and strengthening of Agricultural Research for Development systems is required to realize the full potential benefits of agricultural knowledge and innovation on the lives of smallholder farmers around the world:

• Collective focus on key priorities as determined & shaped by science and society
• True and effective partnerships between research and those it serves
• Increasing investments to meet the huge challenges ahead
• Enhancing  capacities to generate, share and use agricultural knowledge for development
• Effective linkages that embed research in wider development processes and commitments
• Better demonstration of impacts and returns from agricultural innovation

GCARD1’s regional and global analyses and the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework both highlight the need to have a bottom-up approach that ensures all stakeholders who are involved in AR4D engage in policy processes and also contribute in implementing ideas into actions, so that by the end of the day the outputs from research have a positive impact on the lives of smallholders, whose development needs should be at the center of consideration. In doing so, together they will contribute in reducing poverty and hunger, improving human health and nutrition and enhancing ecosystem resilience, hence achieving the MDGs.

From Roadmap principles to actions

The GCARD2 will be a major step for AR4D as it will bring together the practical steps now being undertaken to deliver the changes demanded in the Roadmap, recognizing the diverse realities and political economies (the interacting political, economic, institutional, technological, social and cultural contexts) in which development outcomes are desired.

GCARD2 will identify ways of generating more coherent, evidence-based perspectives on our future needs from agricultural innovation and, from practice-based experience, what kinds of partnerships, capacities, actions and changes will be required, from smallholders to scientists, to achieve the desired impacts.

Are you involved in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D)? What challenges are you facing and what changes do you think are required in order to make a greater impact?

This post is re-blogged from the  GCARD Blog  at http://gcardblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/gcard-more-than-mere-conference/#more-1375  Stay put for more on the same!