International Projects

I am Director of a CIDA funded six-year (2008-2014) Tier 1 $3M project in Ethiopia entitled “Post Harvest Management to Improve Livelihoods (PHMIL) – Ethiopia” that aims to reducing post harvest losses and increasing value addition to agricultural products. To achieve this, a new Post Harvest Management (PHM) department in PHM will be established within Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (JUCAVM), located in south-west Ethiopia. This department will host new BSc and MSc programs in PHM that will be launched in years 2 and 4. The laboratories and libraries will be well equipped to allow effective delivery of the programs and research. JUCAVM faculty and staff will be given short-term and long-term training in Canada and in Ethiopia. A network of universities, government agencies, companies (involved in agri-food business), NGOs, community groups and other stakeholders will also be established. Appropriate technologies for PHM and Value Added agriculture developed through research and consultation will be disseminated to local farmers and other stakeholders. More information about this project is available on NSAC's International page.

I was also Project Director of the five-year (2005-2010) CIDA funded "Agricultural Sustainability - Ethiopia" project that was successfully completed on March 31, 2010. The project aimed to increase the capacity of JUCAVM by training its staff in effective pedagogy, sustainable agriculture systems, community needs assessment, and curriculum development for community-based education; and by upgrading its support services such as the library and the laboratories. The training component of the project was conducted both in Ethiopia and in Canada. Not only that the project achieved all expected results, but also exceeded expectations in many ways.