The average age for farmers around the world is around 58. What can be done to bring more young people into policy discussions around agriculture? Farming First TV spoke to Courtney Paisley, Director of the Young People for Agricultural Development network (YPARD) about just that.
According to Ms. Paisley, young people are not being shown the opportunities that are available in agriculture, and how it could make them money. Continue reading
In this guest post, young soil scientist Steve Kibet tells Farming First how he has managed to mobilise young people to take action against soil degradation in Kenya. This blog is part of our ongoing partnership with Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD).
My grandmother would sit us by the fireside after a long day of looking after her livestock. She would tell us how she used to plant crops; there was no use of organic fertilizer, just removing vegetation cover by slashing and planting the crops using hoes. There was little disturbance to the soil structure. The cover material would protect the soil from water erosion, which is the main type of erosion in the area.. This resulted in a maize plant producing 2-3 maize cops. Her granary was full all year round and the cost of production was very low. Continue reading
To celebrate International Women’s Day we are profiling young entrepreneur Tshepiso Marumo, from Botswana, who has been keeping bees and producing honey based products since 2007. We find out about the challenges she has faced to get her business off the ground, and the tips she has for aspiring agriculture entrepreneurs.
This blog is part of an ongoing partnership with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD).
When Tshepiso began her beekeeping business in her spare time, while a university student studying for a management degree, her family was not convinced this was going to a viable career choice. Like many young people, she was encouraged to stick to her studies and get a white-collar job. But Tshepiso was undeterred. She enrolled in a beekeeping course run by the Ministry of Agriculture, and started saving her allowance and investing in the stock market to raise the capital to start-up her business. Continue reading
As COP20 kicks off in Peru, Shweta Adhikari, a student at the Agriculture and Forestry University in Nepal, writes about seven climate-smart solutions for agriculture and how they are being put into action across the globe. This blog is part of our ongoing series with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development network (YPARD).
Climate risk has been rising dramatically, bringing with it fears for associated species loss and habitat degradation. This comes as population growth is spiralling and urbanisation is increasing. Agriculture now requires greater transformation in order to ensure food security and reduce the impacts (or ‘mitigate’) this climate change.
Based on the projections for food consumption patterns, and the fact our global population will increase by one-third by 2050, agricultural production will need to increase by at least 70 percent. Impacts of climate change and global warming are likely to exacerbate the problems already apparent in agriculture, such as shifting production seasons, pest and disease patterns. The set of crops that will be fesiable to grow will also change, affecting production, prices, incomes and ultimately, livelihoods and lives. So climate-smart agriculture is a major necessity. Continue reading