Background

MASHAV is the Hebrew acronym for the Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, a department established 50 years ago in Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. MASHAV is responsible for designing and implementing Israel's international development programs, carried out in Israel and in developing partner countries.

In cooperation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture – MASHAV's only academic professional affiliate in agriculture – we are pleased to announce the opening of a training and capacity building program entitled Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics – Changes in the Era Of Globalization. The course will be held in Israel at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The International School of Agricultural Sciences in Rehovot, from November 4 –23, 2018.

Agriculture is still the single most important economic sector and source of employment in emerging markets. Seventy percent of the world's poor live in rural areas. In the next decades, Many of the world's poorest regions could suffer food shortage and insufficient natural resources essential for economical growth and development.

Climate change and sustainable environment call for more sophisticated and efficient agricultural technology as the world population grows and the amount of arable land decreases. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), farmers will have to deal with “increased potential” for extreme events like droughts, floods and heat waves,” and “enduring changes in climate, water supply and soil moisture could make it less feasible to continue crop production in certain regions.” More mouths to feed, plus less arable land and changing rainfall patterns, mean a growing need to develop methods of production from alternative resources and technological solutions that can increase productivity. In other words, there is a growing demand for more agri-green solutions that will allow farmers to do more with less while minimizing the negative effect on the environment.

Aims

The aim of this course is to provide decision making tools that will enable the participants to confront the present and expected challenges in the agricultural sector, and to make decisions regarding management of natural resources used for sustainable agricultural production. These tools will also help deal with global financial changes, including international trade agreements and terms of trade; greenhouse gas emission reduction, environmental changes, changing rainfall patterns etc.

Israel has extraordinary experience and "know-how" in confronting these challenges, particularly when dealing with the agriculture-water-environment relationship. The course addresses these issues with a multi-disciplinary decision-making approach while focusing on the agri-environmental considerations needed under climatic changes.

The course suggests concepts methodologies and information that can be later adapted and implemented by the participant when confronting challenges in their own countries. In addition, the course promotes networking and research cooperation among the participants and the Israeli experts.

Application Requirements 

Each participant will prepare a seminar presentation, which will be reviewed and graded. It should apply knowledge acquired during the course to a topic in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics. Participants are advised to bring with them digitalized data relevant to their countries. On completion of the course and fulfillment of its requirements, participants will receive certificates.

Requirements

Candidates interested in attending this program require:

• An academic degree (M.Sc. or above) in economics, environmental sciences, Agriculture or development studies from a recognized university. (A copy of the degree must be included with the application form).
• An authorized certificate of high level English proficiency or a certificate proving that English was the language of study.
• A detailed record of studies must be included with application forms.
• A statement of good health signed by the applicant.
• Two letters of recommendation from the candidate's place of work or study.

Cost and application

Scholarships are available from MASHAV (see below) to cover the fee for study. The scholarship covers tuition, board, lodging, health insurance and travel in Israel required for the purposes of the program of studies. This fee does not include travel costs to and from the home countries or incidental expenses. Application forms may be obtained from the nearest Israeli diplomatic or consular representative or can be downloaded from the website of the Israel Foreign Ministry, MASHAV Study Programs at: http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/mashav/Courses/Pages/default.aspx Completed applications MUST be sent directly to the Israeli representative in your country by September 1, 2018. In addition, you must send a copy of the forms in PDF format and not JPEG to the Faculty by email to Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo..

Date: Del 04 al 23 de noviembre, 2018

Country: Shefayim, Israel

Deadline: 20 de agosto, 2018

Contact: Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo.

More information: http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/mashav/Courses/Documents/62-08%20Agricultural%20an...