Agriculture Education and Market Improvement Program (AEMIP) Year 5 Quarter 2 Progress Report

Despite the early closeout, AEMIP continued to implement key activities during the quarter from October to December 2017. The program's main focus was on strengthening the capacity of the Institut Supérieur Agronomique et Vétérinaire de Faranah (ISAV/F) and the Guinean Agriculture Institutions Network (GAIN). AEMIP supported the development of a doctoral program at ISAV/F, with Mamadou Tanou Diallo presenting the first-ever doctoral defense at the institution. The Ph.D. review committee awarded Dr. Tanou the Ph.D. with high praise. Since 2014, AEMIP has supported Dr. Diallo to obtain the Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Ouagadougou. ISAV/F also supported travel and associated costs for three faculty members who supported Dr. Tanou's research to participate in the defense. Additionally, two ISAV/F faculty members, Dr. Diawardou Diallo and Dr. Amadou Tanou Diallo, increased their academic rank from Maître de Conference to full Professor after publishing research conducted with AEMIP research grants. This supports ISAV/F efforts to provide qualified advisors under the Masters and Doctoral programs. AEMIP also supported the participation of grant beneficiaries in various activities, including the International Colloquium on Water Climate and Society 2017 in Hammamet, Tunisia. The program also provided technical assistance to GAIN, which convened its third General Assembly in Mamou from December 18th to 19th. The meeting allowed member institutions to review the 2016-2017 report, make recommendations on future activities, review and update the SWOT analysis, and development of the 2017-2018 annual plan. The program management team received information that program activities would likely be closed early due to budgetary constraints. Starting in November, AEMIP began preparing for a January 2018 closeout. Several activities were delayed or canceled due to the early closeout, including the support of ISAV/F self-assessment of the 2021-2022 Institutional Development Plan and the preparation of a programmatic exit plan with ISAV/F. AEMIP also supported the development of master's level coursework on plant ecophysiology, animal ecophysiology, management of rural agricultural systems, and sustainable management of agribusinesses. However, the program will not be able to work with ISAV/F to monitor the updated curricula as originally planned. The program also planned to introduce important trainings on market systems to ISAV/F, but the early closeout rendered the trainings impossible. The program's activities during the quarter were focused on strengthening the capacity of ISAV/F and GAIN, and supporting the development of the Guinean agriculture sector. Despite the challenges posed by the early closeout, AEMIP continued to implement key activities and support the development of the program's beneficiaries.