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Partnerships for Local-Level Capacity Building in Lao PDR: A Regional Professional Bachelors Degree

Program in Poverty Reduction and

Agricultural Management

Jonathan Shaw and colleagues

Asian Institute of Technology

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The PRAM

• Regional

• Professional

• Bachelors Degree

• Poverty Reduction

• Agricultural Management

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Demand side

Achieving food securityIncreasing community income and self-sufficiency

Drawing on lessons learned from community fisheries initiative piloted by AIT’s Aqua Outreach Program in Savannakhet (Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sitaheng Rasphone)

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Demand side

• Greater effectiveness of district level government officers

• 3000 in seven southern provinces alone

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Four strategic aims of the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

• Achieve food security for the country• Assist communities to develop

agricultural production for cash• Stabilize shifting cultivation to alleviate

poverty• Sustainably develop forests

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Supply side

Extensive network of well equipped agricultural colleges in Northeastern Thailand

Excess capacity, due to declining Thai enrolment

Experience in sustainable household agricultural development

Shared common language and cultural heritage

Wetlands Alliance resources

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Partners

Wetlands Alliance Program• A process of regional collaboration to strengthen

local-level capacity for sustainable, povertyfocused wetlands management

• Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand • focus on provincial and district institutions, but encourages

national agencies to explore ways to provide more effective support to local initiatives in development and conservation

Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)• helps create conditions that will enable the poor to improve their

lives

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Partners

• Asian Institute of Technology • Prince of Songkhla University, Thailand

• Udorn Thani Rajabhat University, Thailand • Udorn Thani Agriculture and Technology College, Thailand • Sri Saket Agriculture and Technology College, Thailand

• Savannakhet Agricultural College, Lao PDR• Department of Livestock & Fisheries, Lao PDR• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR

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AIT

Sri Saket

Udorn Thani

Savannakhet

Prince of Songkla

Bangkok

Vientiane

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AIT …

is a regional international academic institute advancing technology-driven initiatives for sustainable development in Asia and beyond;

exists to advance our partners’ understanding of global changes and the impact of those changes in Asia, and to influence and enable development for the better

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AIT Mission

Our mission is to build intellectual capital and impart our values through our work:

Teaching and learning: Train leaders to hold the highest ethical standards, to think and to act beyond national boundaries, and to use knowledge to serve society.

Research: Conduct applied research to achieve a deeper understanding of the complex interaction and interdependence of social and economic systems with the natural ecosystems so we can develop unconventional solutions that cut across disciplines to achieve prosperity that is socially responsible and environmentally sustainable; and to bring that knowledge to the classroom.

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Mission

Our mission is to build intellectual capital and impart our values through our work:

Practice and outreach: Work in the field with global and regional network of partners to develop innovative responses to the long-term development challenges of Asia and beyond, and to connect the classroom with the field.

Advocacy: Use innovative research, problem-based teaching and learning, and outreach to advocate for people-centered policies designed to achieve our vision for a prosperous Asia.

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Goals

• To make an immediate and measurable impact on poverty in southern Laos

• To build capacity of local government workers to reduce poverty

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PRAM curriculum structure outline

Orientation courses(18 credits)

Core courses(25 credits)

Elective courses(35 credits)

Compulsory courses for registered students (25 credits) - Agricultural Communication, Health and Sanitation, Agro-Ecology, Agricultural Management, Natural Food Security, Poverty Mitigation, Field Research Methods, Agricultural Extension, PRAM Seminar.

Elective courses for registered and non-registered students (total of 35 credits required for PRAM graduation) - Educational institutions who are members of the PRAM Consortium and responsible for PRAM course delivery, offer a large menu of elective courses for students to choose from. Some Elective courses are required courses for students wishing to specialize in a subject area (e.g. Animal Health, Fisheries).

Composed of two Parts which most students will need to take before they begin the Core courses:Part 1 (9 credits) - Introduction to Agriculture, English language, Thai language, Computer skills, Introduction to EducationPart 2 (9 credits) – Science and Mathematics, Environment and Society, Communication Team Work and Facilitation, Basic Accounting

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• Students: mid-career district level extension officers with high school or vocational qualifications

• linked to official Ministry systems of staff promotion

• Courses taught in Savannahkhet in four week blocks, after which students return to their stations

• Gap between degree program structure and desired outcomes

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Role of AIT

• Support curriculum development

• Assess readiness of colleges to deliver program

• Provide faculty development training

• Design and conduct quality assurance

• Issue degree

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Quality and Fitness for Purpose

“ … determined by the relevance (fitness of purpose) of its mission and objectives for the stakeholder(s) and the extent to which the institution/programme/course fulfils the mission and objectives (fitness for purpose), The quality of an institution/programme/course is also judged by the extent to which it meets the minimum standard set for inputs, processes and outcomes, which is called the standards based approach to quality.” (Sanyal and Martin, 2007)

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Quality and Fitness for Purpose

Did this course lead to a measurable reduction in poverty?

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Poverty reduction

Examples

• Increased availability of nutrients in diet

• Increased knowledge for treating goat health problems

• New crops planted

• New sources of protein (frogs, insects) farmed

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Proposed approach

• A goal-oriented process in which all stakeholders meet together regularly

• Reviews curriculum development against the criterion of “fitness for purpose”

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PRAM course delivery

institution

PRAM course delivery

institution

PRAM course delivery

institution

Asian Institute of Technology

MAF/DLF

Wetlands Alliance

Program

Quality Assurance

Board

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Quality Assurance Board

• Comprising 2 – 3 members from all stakeholders

• Each PRAM course delivery institution has its own QA and curriculum development committee

• Two-way process

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Proposed AIT role

Facilitating and guiding towards goals (“fitness for purpose”)

Ensuring continuous quality improvement

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Other quality concerns

• Developing capacity of Thai colleagues as they develop capacity of Lao colleges

• Meetings in three languages• Curriculum in Thai, but participants

struggled to read and especially write Thai

• Problem-based learning

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Ongoing capacity building

• Problem-based learning workshop

• Poverty reduction indicators workshop