AIP aims to augmenting the efforts of AFU by enhancing agriculture productivity among small farmers and boost engagement of small enterprises by creation of human resource in AFU as centers for dissemination of technologies and enterprise development, capable of fostering economic growth and self-reliance through agriculture and food value chain opportunities.
Project Duration: 2015-2016 Awarding Organization: USAID
Project Value: USD 0.5 million Geography: Nepal
- Facilitate in creating a strategy for AFU and provide exposure to policy planners in institutional building
- Train selected faculty to address the emerging needs in agricultural education, research and extension
- Facilitate the development of appropriate curricula (certificate and diploma programs) for sustainable agricultural production
- Need based intervention to develop a strategy to integrate their research with farmers’ needs and national extension system
- Triggered market oriented agricultural education and continued learning for industry stakeholders through formulation of a need driven operational plan for the country
- Transformed agricultural research outlook of Nepal through Research capacity enhancement triggering continued advancement of agricultural technologies in the country
- Built excellent strategic and knowledge driven relationships between AFU and Indian State Agricultural Universities for continued knowledge sharing and agricultural education
- Transformed outlook & encouraged AFU to evolve as the leader in agriculture education delivery through adoption of technology driven teaching methodologies for ensuring seamless connection to world class faculty as well as industry stakeholders
- Brought a remarkable difference in the approach adopted by AFU in agricultural education and research activities through unlimited access to research journals and publications from the developed nations, advanced educational material from partner Universities
Project Conceptualization & Management
Sathguru had the arduous task of working with the first agricultural university of Nepal and devise strategies for the university with strong focus on education, research and extension. Sathguru had to bring about structural and system level changes that were conducive for carrying out reforms in the curriculum within the universities. In order to bring about transformation, Sathguru experience of working with the strengthening agricultural universities and understanding of global best systems helped to design an futuristic strategy for improving agricultural education, research and extension in Nepal in considerably less period of time.
- Fostered holistic & inclusive development in Nepal’s Agriculture Sector by Aligned research, teaching and extension efforts of the university in line with international best practices
- Mapped immediate priorities and developed ‘Five Year Operational Plan for AFU’ that fosters research and education
- Created mechanisms for building linkages and public private partnerships for advancing education and research
Global Collaborations
Sathguru experience of working closely with various leading agricultural Universities of India realized the ardent need of partnering AFU with these universities for continued learning and knowledge transfer. Further Sathguru’s association with Cornell helped AFU with Cornell’s robust academic experience and scale provided.
- Built excellent strategic and knowledge driven relationships with Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Jorhat, & University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, India
- 2 way faculty exchange visits of 9 scientists resulted in revamping existing courses to market oriented courses with practical approaches
- Introduced the concept and importance of industry oriented vocational and certificate courses for continued education
- 23 courses (degree (4), vocational (9) and certificate courses (12)) developed in the areas of agriculture, veterinary education & forestry
Policy Advocacy
Sathguru’s in depth understanding of policy formulations and regulatory frameworks along with its immense experience of working closely with decision makers in strengthening of agricultural systems in India aided in development of robust strategy framework for AFU.
- Developed a robust strategy document for AFU titled: “AFU Strategy 2013-2023” for holistic agricultural development in Nepal
Research and Technology Management
Sathguru’s inherent understanding of technical aspects, ability to prioritize research activities and experience of successfully triggering research in various leading research institutions of South Asia in association with Cornell have helped Sathguru to transform research outlook as well as enhance research capacity of AFU.
- Transformed research outlook by training of 36 faculty from AFU on market oriented Research Management & Leadership
Information, Communication & Technology
Sathguru’s inherent understanding of technical aspects and processes coupled with its in-house information technology capabilities enabled it to conceptualize, design and introduce e-learning solutions for AFU. Sathguru’s prior experience of successfully deploying these interventions under AIP project in India and Malawi helped in effective implementation at Nepal.
- Establishment of e-classrooms at 5 locations in various campus of AFU
- 450 Undergraduate students from AFU gained access at University Library, educational content through OLAT
- Reformed education system through introduction of New Platforms like TEEAL
Capacity Building
Sathguru’s adopted an approach of building sustainability among the faculty and staff of AFU and making them self-reliant for adoption of advanced methods of curriculum delivery and management as well as ensured holistic development and behavioral change management for triggering research oriented outlook among the faculty of AFU.
- 15 senior administrative staff, faculty members and policy planners from AFU visited 7 academic and research institutes of relevance in Nepal
- Faculty and researchers trained to adopt and connect through technology driven teaching methodology
- 150 faculty members and students trained on TEEAL
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