Training structure
CIHEAM IAM Montpellier - Partner Institution
Presentation
This course responds to a request from the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture and the Faculty of Agronomy at the Lebanese University to train engineers in the new challenges already facing Lebanon: resource scarcity, climate change, and market instability marked by significant regional tensions. Two important components relate to skills that have been lacking in Lebanon until now: (i) modeling agricultural systems to design systems that are resilient to climate uncertainties and the socio-economic context, and (ii) integrating environmental issues into the evaluation of agricultural system performance. This course is particularly important for students from the southern Mediterranean (and more specifically Lebanon) as it is unique in this field (multi-criteria analysis through modeling, territorial agricultural development, environment). This program is designed to respond to the restructuring of the agricultural sector in the southern Mediterranean, with the establishment of regional extension centers, and to better match the profiles of future engineers working for ministries of agriculture and local authorities. >> Learn more
Objectives
• Document, present, and discuss the socio-economic and climate issues facing rural agricultural areas in Lebanon. This will enable students to analyze the performance of Lebanese agricultural systems and, above all, to identify the limitations and threats facing these systems in an uncertain and changing socio-economic and climate context.
• Acquire and master conceptual and numerical analytical frameworks to characterize the diversity of agricultural systems in arid areas, particularly in Lebanon. These analytical and evaluation frameworks are quantitative, multi-criteria, and multi-scale (GIS, diagnosis, statistical analysis, bioeconomic modeling, role-playing, etc.), enabling the design of innovative agricultural systems that meet Lebanon's food priorities and are sustainable from a socio-economic and environmental perspective, in consultation with stakeholders in rural areas. This expertise is now in high demand among development agencies, agricultural advisory centers, consulting firms, and NGOs working in the agricultural sector.
• Understanding and discussing the role of agricultural policies/strategies in promoting innovative agricultural systems. A comparative look at the evolution of past agricultural policy/strategy priorities with current and future food and environmental priorities will be presented and discussed.