AEMIP Quarterly Progress Report (January-March 2015)

The program aims to improve agricultural education and market access in Guinea, with a focus on climate change adaptation and gender equality. During the January-March 2015 reporting period, the major focus of project implementation included several key activities. One of the notable events was the visit of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research to the ISAV/F campus, where he inaugurated AEMIP-funded infrastructure and participated in the restitution of a study on the Analysis of the Dynamics of the Formal Sector Employment Market in Guinean Agriculture. The minister's delegation included a presidential counselor on education and members of the media, and by the end of the quarter, the Ministry had approved a doctorate program on sustainable agriculture at ISAV/F. Another key activity was the registration of AEMIP training and technical documents at the ISAV/F library. A small room was allocated for AEMIP to install program-developed and donated documents for the use of students and faculty for training or research. Documents including books, technical guides, program training and research documents, and films on CD were registered and coded. The program also provided training in technical English to approximately 40 fourth-year students at ISAV/F. Volunteer Sandra Belson began her assignment to provide technical English training, and by the end of the quarter, she had begun planning the development of an English language club on campus in collaboration with ISAV/F faculty and fourth-year students. In addition, AEMIP provided a training on the utilization of IT equipment to access information on climate change to 46 ISAV/F faculty members. The training permitted ISAV/F faculty to understand practices responsible for climate change, understand the effects and variability of effects of climate change on ecosystems, and understand how to adapt to problems posed by climate change. The program also focused on gender and climate change, with Mrs. Andrea Burniske, Program Manager, leading a training session in mid-March. The training aimed to equip participants with knowledge and skills to address the impacts of climate change on women and girls in rural areas. Overall, the AEMIP project made significant progress during the January-March 2015 reporting period, with a focus on climate change adaptation, gender equality, and agricultural education and market access in Guinea.