FAO Project (GCP/SYR/006/ITA)
Pillar 3: Training
The development of human resources to create a capacity for policy development and analysis has been a major area of activity of the assistance and has taken different forms and characteristics through time. In the beginning, training was the largest part of the assistance; it aimed at building new knowledge and skills in MAAR officers whose background was mainly agronomy and natural sciences. Training was also used as a selection device to staff the future National Agricultural Policy Center. Approximately 200 staff from MAAR and related institutions (such as the State Planning Commission, the University and the public enterprises) underwent training at different levels of depth and specialization through different modalities ranging from courses and seminars to on-the-job training with support by international consultants.
The Training Program, aiming at establishing a cadre of policy analysts, was developed in two cycles of basic, specialized, and individually tailored training, implemented during the fist two phases of Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA, and was complemented by training offered under Project TCP/SYR/2906, with the constant assistance of international expertise.
A total of over 4500 hours of basic and specialized in-class training covered, among others, English language, computer use, micro and macroeconomics, statistics, quantitative methods, econometrics, agricultural economics and policies, trade, management of natural resources, poverty and food security. Noticeably, the training activities have produced a number of training materials in English and Arabic, which have also been distributed to Universities and Ministries and are available online. Following the in-class training stage, selected trainees underwent through a stage of individually tailored training, having the opportunity to experiment how to prepare economic studies in the field of agricultural policy and producing a number of research papers in close collaboration with international and national experts. These were published as part of the Working Paper Series established by the NAPC with the support of the Project.
In addition, the Project has organized many study visits to research and academic institutions in Europe, four Master level education fellowships in the United States, and four fellowship for enrollment in post graduate distance training at the University of London (UK). Other training has been provided on skills related to technical writing, computer use, group dynamics and management, and will continue in the future. Training will also continue to be extended to other institutions of the agricultural sector, so as to create NAPC interlocutors having the same information and knowledge of the analytical processes behind the studies.
The GCP Training Program consisted of two successive sequences of training, run at two years interval, for two separate groups of participants. Each sequence offered 15 structured basic and specialized training courses, in addition to English language, to about 50 participants (of which 20 men and 15 women in the two sequences) selected from various MAAR directorates, academic and other related institutions. All trainees in the first sequence benefited from extensive Individually Tailored Training (ITT) programs; eight of them continued training and research for about 3 months in Italy, and four (2 women) completed a two-years MSc curriculum abroad. From the second sequence, and based on the experience of the first one, 15 performing trainees (4 women) were selected for ITT programs, of which the best three continued for two months in Italy, and 25 other trainees (7 women) entered the TCP-organised complementary ITT training for developing practical skills.
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
The experience of the first years of operation of NAPC showed, indeed, that an extensive period of on-the-job assistance and complementary training and learning opportunities was necessary, in order to move from conceptual knowledge into practical know-how and autonomous delivery capacity.
Therefore, further to the intensive, full-time training, the Project is providing continuous on-the-job assistance through various mechanisms to facilitate the uptake by staff of their new duties. To give continuity to the on-the-job assistance, the Project has been ensuring the constant support of two resident international consultants - an agricultural economist and an editor – and of many visiting international consultants, three of whom act as Thematic Advisors to the three NAPC research divisions (Agro-Food, Trade, Rural Development).
The series “Training Materials”, published by the NAPC with the support of FAO, includes notes and handouts produced as part of the training activities carried out at the NAPC by the international experts recruited by the Project. Even though they cannot be considered as comprehensive textbooks, the Project supported the NAPC in making these materials available for a wider public, considering them as a useful reference for the study and the practice of agricultural economics and policy analysis.
FLASH COURSE PRESENTATIONS
This series of training courses allows the Project to respond quickly to address current needs of the NAPC staff. Such courses generally have focused on English communication skills, computer applications and use, smaller technical issues, and more.
FAO Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA © FAO 2006