Education for rural development

The Faculty will implement the project. The project has three foci. First, to assist the Faculty of Agronomy to review its current curriculum and to evaluate possible approaches for providing students with practical field experience, a long-term (12 months) advisor will review the curriculum while a short-term advisor (6 months) strengthens the faculty"s capacity in specialized areas and outlines a multi-year expansion program for the Faculty. Training (102 person-months) at a U.S. university will focus primarily on upgrading faculty capabilities in such areas as applied agricultural research, technology transfer, and agricultural education and communication. Second, field support ($6 per day per student) will be provided for 30 students who will participate in efforts to test three training methodologies. These methodologies include: (1) a 5-month field practicum at a small farmer site near Chiriqui where students will become familiar with small producers" lifestyles, values, and problems; (2) a work/study program with the Ministry of Agriculture or various Panamanian agricultura institutions; and (3) assigning students to the Faculty of Agronomy"s research station outside Panama City. A.I.D. will provide two vehicles and the Panamanian Government will provide one additional vehicle for field support. Lastly, the project will fund the purchase of equipment needed to experiment with various field options, e.g., a small hand tractor, tools and implements, sprayers, irrigation equipment, seeds and seedlings, fertilizer, pesticides, and insecticides. In addition, the project will pay for Faculty and staff salaries, per diem, and transportation.