The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with FARA, Yam-Pukri, CAFAN, AYF, ANAFE, SPC/PAFPNET is organizing the Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition (YoBloCo Awards). This contest is launched in the framework of the Agriculture Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society (ARDYIS ) initiative which aims to raise youth awareness and improve their capacity on agricultural and rural development issues in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries using Information Technology.
Aims of competition
– Put into limelight issues, successes and challenges faced by youth engaged in: agriculture in urban and rural areas;
– Encourage the production of information and the use of new information technologies by young farmers’ groups and organizations interested in the “youth in agriculture” question;
– Promote the sharing of information on the issues of agriculture and rural development in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
This competition is also being launched in the framework of the commemoration of the United Nations International Year of Youth.
Eligibility
The YoBloCo Awards are open in two categories, individual category and institutional category.
The “Individual category” is open to students in agricultural training courses, young farmers, journalists or other young people.
The “Institutional category” is open to local or national
– young farmers’ organizations;
– young members of farmers’ organizations;
– young members of any organization interested in agriculture.
Themes and Issues
Articles on the blog will cover themes or issues such as:
– Challenges, success and issues faced by Youth in agriculture and related activities
– Climate change, environmental conservation, natural resource management
– Agri-business (marketing, commercialization, processing, etc.)
– Agricultural production
– Agriculture value chains and agricultural policy
– ICT use in the agricultural sector (how can ICTs promote agriculture or how can ICT support innovation in agricultural value chains, ICT and agriculture policies, etc.)
– How are ICTs improving (or can improve) youth opportunities in rural areas
– Actions, policies and strategies related to youth involvement in agriculture
– Food security
– Agro-tourism
– Any other agriculture related theme or issue;
– Dialogue and mutual understanding among youth and other stakeholders in rural areas
Prizes
For the “Individual category”: three prizes will be awarded, considering the whole ACP region
– First prize: 1,500 Euros
– Second Prize: 1,000 Euros
– Third Prize: 800 Euros
For the “Institutional category”, regional prizes will be awarded, one for each of the six ACP regions (West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa, Pacific and Caribbean). Each regional winner will receive a cash prize of 3,000 Euros. In addition, the best runner-up in each region will receive other rewards from CTA.
Deadline for submission of entries is October 31, 2011.
For more information and details, you can visit this link.
