Young Advocates for Agriculture and Development established in 2009, is a national initiative of young advocacy professionals to encourage new voices in agriculture and give young people a platform to debate the current issues and the growing challenges affecting the Agricultural Sector in Sierra Leone.

 

Young Advocates for Agriculture and Development is an initiative of young proactive professionals in the advocacy arena. This initiative has today offered young agriculturalists and policy advocates the golden opportunity to gain invaluable experience by putting their views across to to those who make the policies and on the other hands those who suffer as a result of these policies.

The future for the farming industry is a challenging one. It has been estimated that farmers need to double world food production by 2050 - whilst protecting the environment and possibly growing crops to help replace fossil fuels. Against a backdrop of unpredictable climate change, farmers will face increasingly discriminating consumers and volatile world markets. To succeed and prosper, the farming industry must attract the very brightest, dynamic and forward-looking young people, who need to be convinced that new ways of thinking and innovation will be listened to.

Farming issues are regularly debated in the mainstream media but many of the views we hear and read are rooted in the past. Whether it is the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, the case for genetically modified crops or the consequences of animal disease, it is important that we encourage those who will be responsible for the future success of the farming industry to take up the debate and have their say.