VIRTUAL EVENT: promising investments in farmers’ human capital.

24 - 25 November 2020. “Strategies to invest in human capital in agriculture” to generate evidence about promising investments in farmers’ human capital. (FAO), (IFPRI), and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM) presented this one year global study

Through a consultative process, existing human capital initiatives were identified and reviewed, and a typology was developed. In collaboration with a technical advisory group of international specialists, nine agriculture human capital development projects were selected as cases for in-depth analysis. The cases were chosen based on selection criteria co-developed with the technical advisory group, while simultaneously securing diversity regarding geography and the type of human capital investment. The selected cases are:

1. Investing in vocational training and apprenticeships for youth: Support Program for the Renovation and Development of Professional Training in the Agricultural, Livestock, and Fisheries Sectors-Phase for Consolidation and Perpetuation (PCP-AFOP) in Cameroon
2. Investing in public-private farmer training: Productive Alliances Program in Chile
3. Investing in women livestock farmers with community livestock service providers: Jharkhand Opportunities for Harnessing Rural Growth Project (JOHAR) in India
4. Investing in lead farmers and farmer groups with public-private-producer partnerships: Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Development Program Scaling-up Initiative (READSI) in Indonesia
5. Investing in market-oriented horticultural producers: Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) in Kenya
6. Investing in low-income rural farming households with community-based promoters and programs: Haku Wiñay/Noa Jayatai program in Peru
7. Institutionalizing farmer field school investment: Twigire Muhinzi National Extension System in Rwanda
8. Interagency collaboration in Mississippi contributes to successful agriculture human capital development: State University Extension Service in the United States
9. Investing in farmers through professional organizations: Agribusinesses in West Africa

Day 1: included three simultaneous parallel sessions to better understand the case studies under three different themes:

1. Theme 1: women, youth, & marginalised groups (Cameroon, India, and Peru) Johanna Gammelgaard (IFPRI)
   In Cameroon youth develop the skills needed for their self-designed livelihood projects through on-the-job training mixed with classroom learning;
   In India where women are certified as service providers and advise and train their community in improved livestock farming with their newfound expertise;
   In Peru low-income, indigenous communities select and hire their own promoters to help develop productive and entrepreneurial skills within small-scale agriculture.
2. Theme 2: private-sector engagement 
   In Chile alliances between small-scale producers and buyers involve specialised advice from the latter to the former that in turn helps both meet new market requirements;
   In Indonesia chocolate companies play a role in training extension workers, “cocoa doctors”, master trainers, and village facilitators who support good agricultural practices and motivate farmers and farmer groups;
   In the Agribusiness Leadership Programme in West Africa interactive needs assessments and tailored training of cooperative leaders help develop capacity of cooperatives that in turn promotes the development of skills among their member farmers, leading to improved market access for farmers and improved supply for buyers.
3. Theme 3: systems integration, institutionalisation and scaling
   In Kenya, training groups via promoting “farming as a business”, empower and motivate farmers through systematic and motivational trainings;
   In Rwanda’s national extension system is organising farmers in groups supervised by farmer promoters. Farmers have access to basic extension messages and imparted with in-depth knowledge by offering an experimental learning experience in the Farmer field school plots in each village; and
   In Mississippi State in the United States of America there is a model of interagency collaboration where the formal education system, non-formal education, state government agencies, and advocacy groups together help farmers learn useful skills.

Day 2:

• Study synthesis report and major highlights Kristin Davis and Johanna Gammelgaard (IFPRI) 
• Economic measurement of agriculture human capital report highlights Paul McNamara (University of Illinois AgReach) 
• Recommendations for agriculture human capital investment John Preissing (FAO Investment Centre)

Watch the previous webinar (May 27, 2020) on the study: Investing in Farmers. Agriculture Human Capital Investment Study