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There is a general perception that youth in agriculture, perhaps like their counterparts in other fields, often find themselves on the fringes of regional and global agricultural development discourses due a number of factors - among which are limited access to resources and platforms that can aid their active participation. To address this concern, several governments and development organisations working with youth have, in the past years, developed strategies to engage youth in agriculture, encourage their participation in agriculture development discussions, and stimulate their energies towards contributing to finding solutions to some of agriculture's problems - especially in the developing world. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has been one of the organisations at the forefront of this provision of support to youth in agriculture. Drawing on its Youth Strategy, which defines its engagement with young people in the field, CTA has made and continues to make significant contributions to the appeal of agriculture as a profession for youth and the development of young people engaged in the field.

" Youths, farmers and other actors along agricultural value chains require training to achieve the scale and scope of agricultural development that will transform the continent and make it food secure as well as reduce poverty. However, the provision of agricultural skills development and vocational training in Africa has been largely inadequate across the value chain resulting in losses - both in productivity and potential income. To address this, the NEPAD Agency's Agriculture Technical Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) Programme was developed in order to promote technical vocational education and training in the agricultural sector. The ultimate goal is to strengthen TVET in Africa's agriculture education system in order to deliver the desired numbers and competency levels of a skilled work force. This will ensure optimal productivity levels across the agriculture value chains and open up more opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship."

"[KUALA LUMPUR] New approaches to agricultural research and development (R&D) that support local innovation are needed in order to tackle global poverty, say agriculture experts. At a conference, Re-imagining Agricultural Research in Development Dialogue, held in Penang, Malaysia last month (29-31 January), experts from the agricultural sector convened to discuss how agricultural research could best be used to benefit the 870 million people still living on less than US$1.25 a day. "The [conference] was motivated by the realization that agricultural research was not benefiting the poorest of the poor," Boru Douthwaite, Knowledge Sharing and Learning theme leader for the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS), tells SciDev.Net. "

"Africa urgently needs adequate number of quality agricultural graduates to actualize her potential in Agriculture. However, for this to be achieved, Tertiary Agricultural Education (TAE) stakeholders in the continent must work closely to leverage on their respective strengths. Pedagogy pic One of the participants of pedagogy training receives a certificate during a training workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya. In pursuit of the above objective, the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE) is implementing a programme titled 'The Strengthening Africa's Strategic Agricultural Capacity for Impact on Development (SASACID)' which focusses on supporting TAE institutions in Africa to produce agricultural graduates with the right knowledge, skills and attitudes suited for the agricultural sector."

"The Agriculture Economist will assist the AFTA 1 Sector Manager in delivery of the unit's work program, assurance of quality, interaction with internal and external clients, including the private sector, staff development and partnerships. The primary responsibility of the Agriculture Economist will be to provide technical and strategic support to the development and implementation of the AFTA 1 program in Cote d'Ivoire. In particular, the Agricultural Economist will : * Contribute to policy dialogue on agricultural and rural issues and interactions with the client and partners, and alert management (both country and sector) to issues requiring attention ; * Lead/initiate/participate in analytical and strategic work pertaining to agricultural growth and productivity, including work managed by AFTA1 and that managed by other units, but requiring input from agricultural staff, such as public expenditure analysis ; * Assume an active role in the Cote d'Ivoire country team with the aim to ensure adequate and appropriate integration of relevant aspects of the agriculture and rural development agenda in core Bank products, including country assistance strategy, country economic memorandum and the like"

The Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department of the African Development Bank Group (OSAN) is responsible for Bank's assistance in Agriculture and natural resources management in the Regional Member Countries. This assistance includes environmental concerns, promoting agro-industries development, enhancing production, productivity and competitiveness. The Department provides technical and managerial services as well as technical quality assurance to ensure development effectiveness of Bank financed interventions in Agriculture and related areas on the continent . In 2010, the African Development Bank Group started implementing its current Agriculture Sector Strategy (AgSS) covering the period 2010 - 2014. The strategy aims primarily at contributing to the broader development objectives of greater and sustained agricultural productivity, food security and poverty reduction. The strategy was designed with the view of enhancing Bank interventions through more focused, selective and innovative activities. These activities covered areas such as: i) rural infrastructure, including water management and storage, and trade - related capacities for access to local and regional markets; and ii) natural resource management. The strategy also supported selected research initiatives and a wide range of capacity building programs, with distinct features of gender sensitivity, with particular emphasis on fully mainstreaming gender appropriat ely on more than 50% of projects, and ensuring that a similar scope of beneficiaries are women. The Bank recently concluded a Mid-term Review of the AgSS (2010-2014), and will soon commence work on the new Agriculture Strategy to cover the period 2015-2019,and it will be formulated in line with the Bank's Ten Year Strategy ( TYS:2013-2022).OSAN therefore seeks to recruit a junior consultant to assist in : data collection,analysis, research,results reporting and support for the preparation of an approach for the new Strategy.

« Agriculture biologique », « agriculture écologiquement intensive », « agriculture raisonnée », « agriculture urbaine », « agriculture traditionnelle » et j'en passe, le mot « agriculture » semble bien marier avec divers qualificatifs. Mais, à l'heure où les biotechnologies et les nombreuses batailles autour des OGM paraissent meubler l'essentiel des débats entre professionnels des milieux agricoles en Occident, en Afrique, un tout autre concept semble émerger : « l'agriculture 2.0 ». Un concept dont beaucoup ne maitrisent d'ailleurs pas toujours les ressorts. Mais, qu'est-ce au juste que l'agriculture 2.0 ? De quelle manière le web (qui semble si abstrait) peut-il contribuer à améliorer et/ou promouvoir la productivité agricole en Afrique ? L'avenir de l'agriculture africaine se jouerait-elle désormais aussi sur le web ?

"Contrary to conventional economic theories, the relationship between income growth and agricultural employment is extremely diverse, even among regions starting from similar levels of development, such as Asia and Africa. Due to its labor-intensive green revolution and strong farm-nonfarm linkages, Asia's development path is mostly characterized by fast growth with relatively slow agricultural exits. In contrast to Asia, urban biased policies, low rural population density, and high rates of population growth have led a number of African countries down a path of slow economic growth with surprisingly rapid agricultural exits. Despite this divergence both continents now face daunting employment problems. Asia appears to be increasingly vulnerable to rising inequality, slower job creation, and shrinking farm sizes, suggesting that Asian governments need to refocus on integrating smallholders and lagging regions into increasingly commercialized rural and urban economies. Africa, in contrast, has yet to achieve its own green revolution, which would still be a highly effective tool for job creation and poverty reduction. However, the diversity of its endowments and its tighter budget constraints mean that agricultural development strategies in Africa need to be highly context specific, financially sustainable, and more evidence- based"

The work of agricultural researchers and development workers in Africa has the potential to significantly improve the lives of the poor. But that potential can only be realized with easy access to high-quality data and information. The Atlas of African Agriculture Research & Development highlights the ubiquitous role of smallholder agriculture in Africa; the many factors shaping the location, nature, and performance of agricultural enterprises; and the strong interdependencies among farming, natural-resource stocks and flows, and the well-being of the poor.

"The Youth Agripreneurs Project (YAP) is a pilot project to support young agricultural entrepreneurs, or "agripreneurs." YAP will select young agripreneurs from all over the world for their projects related to the agriculture supply chain, production (i.e., crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry, agro-forestry), value-added services, or market access. The program will provide US$5 thousand to facilitate the start-up of the selected projects. Additionally, GFAR will fund the travel and accommodation of the selected agripreneurs to attend the Third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development in Johannesburg, and support to integrate them in the YPARD (Young Professionals for Agricultural Development) mentoring program. The deadline for applications (English, French, Spanish) is 15 March 2016."

"The role of young people in the agricultural sector have been debated extensively, and for good reason. Youth unemployment is a huge challenge with potentially severe consequences, and the agricultural sector is the biggest employer in most developing countries. Currently, the global population of young people aged 12-24 is around 1.3 billion, and projected to peak at 1.5 billion in 2035. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that globally, around 55% of young people reside in rural areas. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and south Asia, this number increase to as much as 70%. In SSA alone, youth (aged between 15 and 24) comprise as much as 36% of the labor force. With food production having to increase with 60% by 2050 in order to sustain expected food demands (FAO, 2011), adequate integration of young people in the agricultural sector can be a vital factor of reaching those targets.."

A l'occasion de la journée mondiale des luttes paysannes, jeudi 17 avril, la commission agriculture et alimentation (C2A) de Coordination SUD publie une Note de la C2A intitulée « L'Année Internationale de l'Agriculture Familiale : pour une reconnaissance politique de l'efficacité et des performances des agricultures paysannes ! » En dépit d'atouts considérables, les agricultures familiales font trop souvent face à des exclusions persistantes d'accès aux ressources naturelles et aux services, et leur vulnérabilité face aux crises économiques et climatiques, aux politiques de libre échange et d'investissements ainsi qu'à l'instabilité des prix, demeure une tendance lourde, et se traduit souvent par la pauvreté et l'insécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle de nombreuses familles paysannes. Or, loin de l'archaïsme dont certains les caractérisent encore, ces agricultures familiales et paysannes sont porteuses d'innovations et de modernité pour relever les défis du XXIème siècle : alimentation, climat, énergie, environnement, emploi.

WYG and Natural Resources Institute (NRI) are pleased to launch the call for concept notes for the Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Research and Learning Programme in sub-Saharan Africa (SAIRLA) research opportunity. SAIRLA is a five-year programme, from 2015 to 2020, which will commission research and facilitate learning to understand different ways of achieving Sustainable Agricultural Intensification (SAI) and their developmental implications. Its key focus is on assessing how SAI can be promoted in ways that enable women and poorer smallholders in Africa to participate in and benefit from agricultural development through SAI approaches. SAIRLA's research projects will generate new evidence and decision-making support tools to help decision makers create an enabling environment for poorer smallholder farmers, especially women and youth, to engage in Sustainable Agricultural Intensification.

CRISAT, December 2012 - Using ICT to revitalize agricultural extension and education towards providing knowledge access to smallholder farmers was the subject of an international workshop held at the Infosys Campus in Hyderabad (India) on 3-4 December. The global consultation on Innovative ICT and Knowledge Sharing Platforms for Revitalizing Agricultural Extension and Education: Opportunities and Challenges organized by a global team led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), brought together about 60 ICT, research, extension and education experts from India, USA and Africa. The two-day workshop was successful in laying the groundwork for the formation of a global partnership that will push the 'knowledge to the poor' revolution through ICT application in agricultural extension and education.

"Agriculture is a key focus of the rural development agenda and women now make up the majority of the agricultural workforce in developing countries. In the face of increasingly volatile agricultural conditions, due to the impacts of climate change for example, it is important that the rural poor and particularly women are equipped with the skills to cope and adapt to ensure food security and improve income levels""

"The relationship between Tertiary Agricultural Education (TAE) and its siblings - Research, Policy and industry actors- can make or break Africa's agricultural sector. Participants who attended the workshop pose for a group photo Participants who attended the workshop pose for a group photo Strengthening the link between these four components not only ensures food security in the continent but also bolters - significantly - the continent's socio-economic development.Africa's agricultural potential can only be optimally harnessed if deliberate efforts are made to ensure that agricultural education is aligned to industry needs and research findings generate innovative products and approaches for industrial application and also feed into national and regional policies."

"The programme aims to trigger a seismic shift in development and delivery of agricultural education programmes in Africa. Africa urgently needs adequate number of quality agricultural graduates to actualize her potential in Agriculture. However, for this to be achieved, Tertiary Agricultural Education (TAE) stakeholders in the continent must work closely to leverage on their respective strengths."

Un pôle d'excellence de la formation professionnelle spécialisé en agriculture sera créé "prochainement" dans la commune de Lakhdaria (nord-ouest de Bouira), a annoncé lundi le ministre de l'Enseignement et de la Formation professionnelle, Mohamed Mebarki. "Nous prévoyons la création de pôles d'excellence pour la formation professionnelle dans cinq wilayas du pays, dont un à Bouira, où l'actuel institut national spécialisé en agriculture sera transformé prochainement en un pôle d'excellence spécialisé en agriculture, et ce compte tenu de la spécificité de cette région", a expliqué le ministre lors d'un point de presse animé dans le cadre de sa visite de travail et d'inspection dans la wilaya.

"Youth in agriculture has been high on the development agenda. While many policies and programs are being implemented that should bring youth back to work in agriculture, they are often underpinned by assumptions that could undermine the effective augmentation of food security and employment. To start the discussion by shedding some light on the do's and don'ts when working with youth, two meetings were organized on youth inclusiveness in agricultural transformation. "

"The EU-funded project JOLISAA coordinated by CIRAD, France; the Prolinnova international network hosted by ETC Foundation, Netherlands; the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); the AusAID-funded project Food System Innovation for Food Security (FSIFS) and other partners are to meet in May 2013to jointly discuss approaches to enhance knowledge-to-action linkages among actors in agricultural innovation systems in Africa. During WAIA, a workshop on Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa (AISA) will take place, preceded by an Eastern Africa Farmer Innovation Fair to showcase the achievements of individual and groups of smallholder farmers in improving their farming and their livelihoods. "