I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N

A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

January – February 2015

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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Contents

New Website ...................................................................... 2 - 5

EXPRO Promotion.................................................................. 6

Regional Directors.................................................................. 7

Upcoming Events............................................................... 8 - 9

Complete IAAS Fb.-List........................................................ 10

Introducing IAAS Candidate Member Nepal....................... 10

Welcome to the HQ................................................................. 11

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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NEW WEBSITE

Dear Members,

A milestone in the IAAS History has been reached, IAAS World has got a new website!

Already quite some years the urge for a new website was high, but luckily the effort of past half

year completely paid off with www.iaasworld.org as the great result!

During WOCO preparation already started. With the whole GA thoughts were combined on

which features the new website should have. After WOCO I’ve been combining all these wishes

in a document to make it very clear for the company what we wanted. After contacting several

companies, asking for price indications to make the website according to the wishes in this

document, we signed a contract with NexStudios within the budget we agreed on during the

GA at WOCO.

NexStudios is an international company and we we’ve been in contact with the office in

Singapore (http://www.nexstudios.com). NexStudios turned out to be a very good choice. It’s

a great and professional company. Cooperation has gone very smoothly. For half a year we had

almost daily contact about the status of the website. For me it was very easy to guide them in

the right direction so that all the features we wished for were implemented, and all our requests

were immediately adjusted as we asked for something to change.

I’m very grateful to all the guys who have been involved in the project for this great cooperation.

Thank you, you’ve done a great job.

Half of January the time was there: the website was ready!

I hope you’ve all seen the great result of the “Front Page”: The website part that you and all

other visitors can see. But additionally to this, also the “Back End”, the part where I can

update the website. It has been made so easy to update every single part of information on

this website, that I’m sure this has been a very sustainable investment: Next VPC’s will easily

be able to keep the website up to date and keep it look as great as it does now and it will cost

just little time.

Just to make sure you’ve find out about the cool features our new website has, here some

screenshots of some of these:

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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1. IAAS Network: an interactive Google Map consisting of all our current member

countries. By pressing on a pin, you will enter the respective Country Page:

2. Country Page: Every country, member of IAAS has its own page where Contact

Information, Local Committees, Reports of Events organized by the Country and

Facebook Link can be found:

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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3. Activities: Don’t miss out on any IAAS event any more! From now on all the

international activities are nicely brought together, visible in two different views: A

chronical list or calendar view. Every National Director has the ability to upload their

own events in an easy to use uploading page, making all the events have the same lay-

out.

4. Exchange Program Places: Do you know the problem: Students are interested in

ExPro and ask where they can go and what they can do. What was your answer

before? Yes, indeed it was very hard to find out which ExPro Places were available.

But also this problem has been solved! By this great search feature, it’s made very easy

for students to find out which ExPro Places are offered at this moment.

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5. Forum for members: Here all sorts of things can be discussed among our members.

Please subscribe yourself as a member (Login Button on the right) and JOIN the

conversations !

This Forum becomes of more and more use if we all start to use this.

As you can see, many great features, but to make the most out of this new website we also

need your help !

Please, if you are a:

- National Director: Please provide us with the necessary country information and

activity reports so I can upload the right information on your country page and upload

your event if you’re organizing something.

- Local Director: Provide your ND with the right info about your Local Committee to

upload on the country page.

- Exchange Coordinator: Provide our VP of Exchange with a full list of the ExPro-

Places your country offers.

- Member: Join the FORUM !

Thanks in advance for your cooperation and I hope you’re as happy with the new website as I

am .

Warm Regards,

Your VP of Communication, Lisanne

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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EXPRO

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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New RD Asia Pacific

Due to the lack of a Regional Director for the IAAS Asia-Pacific region and no Asia Pacific

Directors Meeting within view, where a new RD could be elected by voting, the decision was

made to have an open call for a new Regional

Director IAAS Asia Pacific.

Interested members have sent their

motivation letter and their CV, including

their IAAS history to the IAAS World Vice

President of Communication, Lisanne

Meulendijks and to Ratih Nawangwulan,

IAAS World Control Committee member.

Officially Dicky Hasisan Zulkarnain , a

member of IAAS Indonesia has been

appointed as the new IAAS Regional

Director Asia-Pacific, starting his term

the 1st of January 2015.

We wish Dicky all the best for his coming

term!

WANTED: 3 NEW RD’S EUROPE

Unfortunately there was not only a lack of Regional Directors in the Asia Pacific Region, but

also for the position: Regional Director of North-East Europe. This position is still open.

Next to that, soon, during the upcoming EDM both the positions: Regional Director of Central

Europe and Regional Director of Western Europe will become free.

For these 3 positions we’re looking for candidates!

If you’re interested in becoming a Regional Director, or if you’d like to receive the Regional

Director Guide in which you can read more about the tasks a RD has, please mail to:

vpcommunication@iaasworld.org

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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UPCOMING EVENTS

These upcoming events are soon to happen or have approaching application deadlines. But

there are more activities ! Please look for the full list on: http://www.iaasworld.org/activities/

Training New Trainers

From: 06/03/2015 - 12/03/2015 - Trois-Ponts, Belgium

Deadline application: still open

Learn the skills you need to guide a working group, to work in a

project team, the skills you need to perform in our society that’s

mainly focused on the network and interactions with the people

around you. And how to share all this knowledge with your fellow

egeans, IAASii, best friends… that’s what you will take with you after

a week of TNT ! (That, and some delicious Belgian beers and the best

chocolate in the world of course)

For more information:

http://www.iaasworld.org/event/training-new-trainers/

ExCo Meeting

From: 15/03/2015 - 22/03/2015 - Madrid , Spain

Deadline application: 21st of February

This year IAAS Madrid will organize the yearly Exchange Coordinators Meeting. During this

meeting Exchange Coordinators all over the world and all others who are interested to come

from meet to together discuss on how to improve the Exchange Program. Next to that many

fun activities and trips are organized to have a great week together and get to know each other

better. Would you like to know about the schedule? Look at the website !

For more information: http://www.iaasworld.org/event/exco-meeting/

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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World Congress 2015

From: 06/07/2015 - 27/07/2015 – The

Netherlands – Belgium – Switzerland - Italy

Deadline application:

28th of February !!!

The World Congress is our largest and most

important event of the year! In addition to

the regular knowledge transfer, networking

opportunities, lots of fun and new friends,

our General Assembly (GA) will take place.

For the year 2015, as none of the member

countries are able to host this event

individually, the WOCO15 will take place in

several parts of central Europe. Starting in

the Netherlands, the participants will

travel to Belgium and Switzerland and will end in Italy. During this journey, you will have

the unique opportunity to experience Europe from a scientific, entrepreneurial, cultural,

political and historical perspective. An introduction to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),

a visit to the parliament in Brussels, tours through the visiting cities, and lead discussions

about current topics will all be key components during these three weeks.

During the first weeks of the World Congress, most of the attention will be paid to the GA

of IAAS World, company visits and member based projects. The GA does not only act as the

governing body of our association but will also offer the chance to our participants to improve

their soft skills. Hands-on learning experiences in the field of democratic structures and

decision making processes, strategic planning, and the evaluation of past developments are

topics which will be discovered and treated.

Furthermore, company visits and member-based projects, related to the theme: “How to

Feed the Planet” will be organised. The goal of WOCO15 is to inform the participants about

the agriculture methods in the different countries and to update them about the challenges for

the future. In this case, the IAAS members will improve their knowledge concerning specific

subjects dealt with during the World Congress and thus be able to discuss their new insights

with the representatives at the World Exhibition 2015, in Milano.

For more information: http://www.iaasworld.org/event/woco15/

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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Introducing IAAS Nepal - Candidate

Respect for Agriculture: Nepalese situation

Written by: Prakash Kumar Pant, National committee member, IAAS Nepal

Agriculture is the major sector of Nepalese economy. It provides employment opportunities to

66% of the total population and contributes about 39% in the GDP (MoAC, 2014). Therefore,

the development of agriculture sector is the key for the development of national economy.

Keeping in view of the contribution, agriculture sector was given topmost priority for its

development from the onset of the five year periodic plans till present. Today each and every

person who thinks about the nation development believes that development of Nepal is only

possible through the development of agriculture sector. No doubt Nepal bears a great potential

for agriculture. Country’s topographical division into Terai, Mid-Hills, High-hills and

Mountain adds boost to the agriculture sector as it provides four different ecological zones

which support different sorts of climate required for different crops.

In spite of all these things, Nepal has long been based

on subsistence farming. Peasants derive their living

from the fragmented plots of land. The average land

holding of Nepalese people is 0.5 ha. Most of the

cultivated land is covered by the cereal crops, major

being the paddy (40 % alone). We are the second

richest country in water resources but we fully depend

on natural rain for irrigation. More than 70% of

cultivable land is rainfed. Nepalese agriculture is fully

dependent upon the elderly family members and the

school children. The main suppressed being the

female members. Nepalese women have to look after the children at the same time they have

to look after the whole agriculture. Male members fly abroad in the search of job yearly, the

major destination be the Golf countries. Each year about 350,000 Nepalese youth fly abroad

in the search of job and only elderly people, females and children stay at homes. Arm drain is

the major problem of Nepal at present.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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“Farming is dirty and messy. If truth be told, most of the

time it’s rather grimy. It is incapable of tackling the bigger

concerns of economic boost, self-employment,

entrepreneurship, sustainability and societal well-being.

The world ‘culture’ actually has no place in agri-culture”.

The reluctance of the Nepalese people to take agriculture as

a profession proves agriculture as a part time subsistence

business of the people. None of the Nepalese youth today

wants to make identity of himself/herself as a farmer/agri-

enterprineur. Everybody wants to escape from this job.

Nearly more than 40% of the NGOs and INGOs working in Nepal have some program for

agriculture sector development, but most of the activities are confined to the written

documents and table work only. Only little amount of work has been done in this sector. Every

agriculture planner, scientist and expert agrees that there should be a balance between

education, research and implementation in agriculture. But in Nepal, the relationship between

these three pillars is given very little weight. The non-availability of qualified manpower,

flawed government policies, public aversion to farming, unviable and conventional farming

methods, and inadequate agricultural education are the major handicaps of Nepali farming.

Educated youth consider agriculture a less than glamorous job. The appeal of escaping a life in

agriculture and visiting different parts of the world suggest that out-migration of the Nepalese

youth might increase, rather than decrease.

To make Nepali agriculture competitive, there is a need to

substantially increase investment, in agriculture in general,

and in research in particular. Government policies should

not be confined to the written documents and table works

only. Implementation phase should be taken with

significant importance. Youths should be motivated to

enter the sector. Private sector involvement and investment

in the very sector is utmost necessary.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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IAAS Facebook Complete List

Would you like to stay up to date about the activities going on in all IAAS Committees. From

now on you don’t have to look to find all the different

IAAS Facebook Page one by one. Thanks to Samuel

(President) we’ve now a full list with all IAAS

Facebook Page’s together.

>> Go to:

https://www.facebook.com/lists/845487402177663

>> Follow this List

>> To make it easier add the list to you Favorites: go

to: www.facebook.com/bookmarks/interests after

you’ve followed the list first. Than at settings: “Add

to Favorites”

Welcome to the HQ !

“After 6 months of all kind of experiences from the

distance; Skype meetings, emails, prepare

documents and being in contact with different

countries… I’m finally in the beautiful city of

Leuven, where our HQ is located!!

Our headquarters is amazing and it will be a

great time in company with Lisanne and Steven,

who are part of IAAS EC and studying in Leuven

too. I’m grateful to them, KU Leuven University

and IAAS for this great opportunity and happy to

be in our Headquarters! It is amazing! We’ll be

working hard together for IAAS during this

semester.”

Samuel Navarrete

IAAS World President

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

www.iaasworld.org

info@iaasworld.org

Call for Articles

Did you organize an event in your Committee and you want to

share it with IAAS World? Please send your article with pictures

to vpcommunication@iaasworld.org before the 10th of April,

2015.

This IAAS Newsletter was brought to you by Lisanne Meulendijks.

Leuven, 15th of February 2015