YPARD | About YPARD

Our story

YPARD has been around for about 2 decades, and has grown massively over the years.

Pre-2006

In 2005, young scientists in Zurich noticed a lack of youth in policy debates and took action. They met with major agri-food organizations in Rome, organized a side event at the CGIAR AGM in Marrakech, and secured funding from SDC in Bern by mid-2006.

By July 2006, YPARD's official launch was being planned at Wageningen and Leibniz Universities.

8th November 2006, GFAR conference, New Delhi, India

Official launch of the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development aka YPARD!

Pronounced WAI-PARD, and NOT EE-PARD. Hosted at the UN FAO.

2006-2012

By 2008, the first YPARD Charter was crafted and signed.

Over the next few years, regional units of Asia and Africa, followed shortly by ones in Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe were set up.

We also launched our first official website, started our mentorship program, and joined FORAGRO and EFARD's Steering Committees.

2013-2015

With the regional units set up, YPARD's membership grew worldwide.

YPARD joined innovative projects like the YIL Initiative, TAP, the Foresight Hub, and became part of the Steering Committee of GFAR.

In 2015, we had an exciting new rebrand which gave us the logo that you see when someone mentions YPARD!

2016-2018

In true YPARD spirit, we celebrated our 10 year anniversary in 2016! Physical and hybrid events were held in multiple countries all at once- separated by space but united in spirit.

We celebrated at Tropentag, at GCARD3, in Nigeria, Rwanda, Iran, India, Nepal, Philippines, to name a few.

2018-2021

A detailed strategic plan for 2018 to 2020 was created in Prague, and the YPARD Charter was revised.

YPARD began our new hosting at AGRIDEA and CZU.

The Global Policy Working group was launched- this set the stage for key partnerships in the UNFSS Youth Liaison Group and in the Youth Working Group of the CSIPM to the CFS.

2022

The launch of the YPARD Global Policy Working group culminated in partnership in the Food Systems Pavilion at the UNFCCC COP.

We also held the YUFRAS-YPARD Young Rural Advisers Training and Mentorship Program.

2023

With agroecology emerging as one of our core thematic focusses, we strated the GP-SAEP project to build capacities of young people.

We also began the CEA-FIRST project in AU-EU research partnership as a consortium partner.

An incubator project was launched in Africa and Asia-Pacific, and a massive youth summit was held in LAC, encouraging youth ideas to grow to the next level.

On the administrative side, we recognized the need to have an independent legal body that would enable us to take on projects from designing to implementation.

2024

In a crucial step to become an independent youth-led organization, YPARD e.V. was established as a legally registered non-profit in Berlin, Germany!

Plans for the future growth of the network were discussed in a Steering Committee and Staff Retreat in Berlin, where we revisited YPARD's vision, mission, values, and strategic way forward.

We focussed our efforts into connecting the Rio Conventions, with a capacity-building webinar series and developing position papers for CBD COP16, UNFCCC COP29 and UNCCD COP16 with the Global Policy Working Group.

To showcase the work of our members and the impactful youth-led projects they are part of, a new official website was launched.

2025

In 2025, we began the co-development of the YPARD Strategic Plan 2026-2031 with members and partners, which lays down the network's thematic focusses and programmatic priorities for the upcoming years.

We started the WYNA Programme in Africa, through which we offered in-depth fellowships for youth developing Community Solution Projects on the ground. Through the Menu for Change Challenge and RAENS project, we were able to support even more young people on the ground to carry out various initiatives on the ground and build agripreneurships.

Advocacy through our Policy Working Group continued with the main theme of finding synergies between the Rio Conventions.

Our Team

YPARD operates at local, regional, and national levels.

At the heart of YPARD are our members, who are encouraged to become active in their area, spread the news about YPARD to other young professionals, encourage a stronger voice of youth in their own organizations and share our views and ideas with other young professionals in the network.

The local areas in a country are spearheaded by a Country Representative who is the ambassador of that specific country.
Some countries have two Co-country Representatives.
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You can find a list of all our Country Representatives on our Members page.

For Africa, LAC, and Asia-Pacific, Regional Coordinators coordinate regional activities and liaise between the country and global levels.

The Global Coordinating Unit (GCU) implements the vision of the Steering Committee, coordinating, supporting, and promoting the work of our members.

YPARD's Steering Committee guides the organization in strategic development along with the GCU and Regional Coordinators.