Training structure
CIHEAM IAM Montpellier - Partner establishment
Presentation
This program responds to a request from the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture and the Faculty of Agronomy of the Lebanese University to train engineers to deal with the new challenges that Lebanon is already facing: scarcity of resources, climate change and market instability marked by strong regional tensions. Two important components in relation to skills that have been absent until now in Lebanon: i) modeling of agricultural systems to design resilient systems in the face of climatic uncertainties and the socio-economic context, and ii) integration of environmental issues in the evaluation of the performance of agricultural systems. This course is important especially for students from the South of the Mediterranean (and more particularly in Lebanon) because it is unique in this field (multicriteria analysis by modeling, territorial agricultural development, environment). This course must respond to the new restructuring of the agricultural sector on the southern shore of the Mediterranean with the establishment of territorial extension centers, and to better match the profiles of future engineers of the Ministries of Agriculture and local authorities. >> More information
Objectives
- To document, present and discuss the socio-economic and climatic issues that rural agricultural territories in Lebanon are facing. This will allow students to analyze the performance of Lebanese agricultural systems and especially to identify the limitations and threats that these systems face in an uncertain and changing socio-economic and climatic context.
- Acquire and master conceptual and numerical analytical frameworks to characterize the diversities of agricultural systems in drylands and more specifically in Lebanon. These analytical and evaluation frameworks are quantitative, multi-criteria and multi-scale (GIS, diagnosis, statistical analysis, bioeconomic modeling, role playing, etc.) allowing, in consultation with stakeholders at the rural territories level, to design innovative agricultural systems that meet the food priorities in Lebanon and are sustainable from a socio-economic and environmental point of view. This know-how is nowadays in great demand at the level of development agencies, agricultural advisory centers and consultancies and NGOs working in the agricultural sector.
- Understanding and discussing the role of agricultural policies/strategies in promoting innovative agricultural systems. A cross-section of the evolution of past agricultural policy/strategy priorities with current and future food and environmental priorities will be presented and discussed.
Admission
Conditions of access
CANDIDATES: