The CASE Approach – April 3-7, 2006, in Sogakope, Ghana 

The purpose of the training program is to provide participants with new knowledge, tools and methods for agricultural intensification and agribusiness development. The program is targeted at public and private sector specialists involved in agricultural and agribusiness development in developing countries.  Participants will be able to strengthen practical skills through the analysis and elaboration of case studies and group exercises.

The training is based on the CASE—Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises— approach developed by IFDC and its partner institutions. The CASE approach is grounded in experiential learning theories and fosters agricultural intensification and market development by using a commodity chain approach. The training will be composed of four inter-related modules:

• Development of competitive strategies at the enterprise level (including farm, processing enterprises and input dealers).

• Analysis of comparative and competitive advantages at the regional level by using Porter’s diamond of competitiveness and the concept of industry clusters.

• Organizational strengthening/institutional development (OS/ID):  When markets are thin and poorly developed, the focus needs to be on innovative institutional arrangements to improve coordination among all actors along the commodity chain.

• Communication for innovation: facilitation of experiential and social learning, networking, and lobbying.

Strengthening Agricultural Trade Organizations - June 19-23, 2006, in Bamako, Mali

The purpose of this training workshop is to help participants increase their understanding of how to make agricultural commodity trade associations, producer organizations and trader organizations more effective and financially self-sustaining.   The program is designed for private sector leaders of trade organizations and for public nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and donor representatives who work with them.    Effective voluntary trade organizations play a critical role in developing commodity chains, transferring technology, and increasing trade.  They serve their members through advocacy (policy reform), communications (market information and trade missions), and education (technical and business). 

The workshop will discuss the best practices of agricultural commodity, trader and producer organizations and provide practical lessons on how to establish, manage, grow and sustain them.  IFDC and other expert speakers will draw on their experience and successful local, national, and regional trade organizations in Africa and elsewhere.  The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/West African Research Program (WARP)-funded project to strengthen regional market information systems (MIS) and trade organizations in West Africa will co-sponsor the program, which will focus on sub-Saharan Africa. 

Challenges in Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Africa – August 21-25, 2006, in          Arusha, Tanzania    

Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations mandate that poverty and hunger should be halved by 2015 in developing and transitional economies. To achieve these goals, a significant increase in food production is needed and such an increase cannot be achieved and sustained without increased and environmentally sound use of modern inputs such as seed, fertilizer, and crop protection products. While the need for increased use of inputs is broadly recognized, supply systems for these inputs remain fragmented and underdeveloped in many developing and transitional economies, especially in Africa.

Well-functioning input markets need strengthening of the five pillars of markets dealing with policy, human capital, finance, market information, and regulation and creating other supporting conditions dealing with regional integration and technology transfer. This workshop will discuss issues involved in creating an enabling policy environment, building human capital, improving access to finance and market information, and enforcing quality control regulations for input market development. Issues related to technology transfer, risk management, and regional integration of markets will also be explored. Both analytical and case studies approaches will be used. Participants will have a first-hand experience of interacting with input importers and dealers to understand the problems faced by key players in the enterprise management and market development.  Policymakers, private sector participants, bankers, NGOs, donor representatives, and farmers associations are strongly encouraged to participate in this workshop. 

Decision Support Systems and Crop Modeling – September 4-8, 2006, in Marrakech, Morocco

The purpose of this training workshop is to understand how farmers can apply and benefit from information and decision support systems in agriculture and environmental sciences.  The program will demonstrate how an IFAD-funded project in Morocco has developed and used such decision support tools to help farmers, agricultural enterprises, and policymakers.  The program will feature applications of decision-support tools that simulate the effects of soil, climate, management, and economic factors and their interactions on crops, soil fertility, and the environment. Case studies on the use of decision-support tools for seasonal yield forecasts and reducing production risks, climate change, long-term cropping systems, and management recommendation systems will be presented from various countries. The workshop will include lessons learned from the project in Morocco, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development.  This project is entitled “Development and Implementation of an Information and Decision Support System for Cereal Production: Improving Agricultural Input Efficiency and Reducing Production Risks.”

The workshop will include the fundamentals of data handling, analysis, and operation of the crop models and geographic information systems (GIS) using standard data sets and/or participant data.  The program will make extensive use of “hands-on” practical sessions on personal computers that demonstrate the application of the decision support tools in agribusiness, environmental monitoring, and sustainable production.  A session will be devoted to improving the accessibility of the tools and their outputs to the farmers, agribusiness dealers, and policymakers.  Expert speakers from IFDC, universities, agricultural research centers, and the private sector will draw on their experiences and successful applications of decision support systems from around the world.   

Strengthening Market Information Systems – September 4-8, 2006, in Cotonou, Benin

The purpose of this workshop for public and private sector specialists in MIS and agribusiness trade organizations is to discuss lessons and techniques of establishing and improving national and regional MIS that can deliver actionable and timely trade-promoting information to traders, agribusiness enterprises, and farmer organizations.  The benefits of increased access to trade-relevant information to agricultural production, trade, economic growth, and regional integration are obvious and necessary if developing countries and regions are to position themselves on a trajectory of progress.

The workshop will analyze the advantages and lessons of existing systems and ways of improving the collection, coordination, analysis, and dissemination of market-relevant data for agricultural trade in key products and for providing valuable information related to increased production, food quality and safety, exports, competitiveness, transport costs, tariffs, access to credit, and food security.  IFDC and other expert speakers will draw on experience and successful MIS operating in Africa and elsewhere to discuss the effective design, implementation, and sustainability of systems that meet the commercial needs of traders, agribusiness, and farmers.  The USAID/WARP-funded project to strengthen regional MIS and Trade Organizations in West Africa will co-sponsor the program.

NPK Production Alternatives – November 6-10, 2006,_in Southeast Asia  

The workshop will focus on production methods and equipment; plant design; storage and handling issues; raw material and product quality issues; and quality control of granulated, compacted, and blended NPKs. Fluid NPK fertilizers will also be briefly reviewed. Participants will be exposed to a range of topics through classroom presentations, discussions, and a field trip to NPK production and storage facilities.

The workshop is designed for technical managers and engineers engaged in production, storage, and/or handling of granulated, compacted, and/or blended NPK fertilizers; quality control/assurance managers and engineers; process and equipment design engineers engaged in engineering and supply or modification of NPK fertilizer plants; entrepreneurs contemplating the establishment of NPK production facilities; and policymakers involved in agricultural sector planning.