Transforming Education and TrainingThe Context of the Food System

Phnom Pehn, MI November 7, 2013

Education and Training

Workforce Development

Economic Development

Food System as a Case-in-Point*

Input companies

Input companies

FarmersFarmers

TradersTraders

RetailersRetailers

ConsumersConsumers

Food companies

Food companies

* From: KMPG International, 2013

SeedsFertilizerAnimal health

Crops Meat Dairy

CropsMeatOils/mealBiofuels

BakeryMeatDairySnacksBeverages

Hyper-marketsSuper-marketCorner shops

Urban Rural

Changing Nature of the Food System• A major industry in Cambodia and many developing

countries

• Rapidly changing

• Shift from production to post-production industries

• Need to address challenges and threats to global food security

• Climate change, population growth, urbanization, increasing incomes

• Rising demand for access to information

• Creating need for new knowledge and skills among food system workers

Relationship of Education and Training to Workforce Development

Labor Market NeedsA. current

B. next generation skills

Next Generation Agricultural Professionals

Improved Food System Performance

AET Institutions

C. Effective,responsive content

•curriculum • pedagogy

D. Sustainable AET institutions• financial management

• human resource management• continuous quality assessessment

Change in Value Chain Influencing Workforce Demand

Legend:

DistributionPackagingProcessing

Farming

Consumption

Public sector (extension &

research)

Private sector(food

industries)

Past 40 years Next 40 years

Small employment

Large employment

Demand for AET Graduates

Relationship of Preparation and Supply of and Demand for Skilled WorkersEducational

Level

Ph.DM.Sc.B.Sc.VocationalSecondaryPrimary

Legend:

AET Supply of Skilled Workers

Demand for Skilled Labor and Research

Informal Formal Private Sector Public Sector

= enrollment & employment pyramids(width at each educational level is proportional to enrollment)

Skilled labor & research

Communication & feedback

Curriculum adjustments

Two USAID Projects

• Global Center for Food Systems Innovation (GCFSI - MSU)

• Innovation for Agricultural Training and Education (InnovATE - Virginia Tech)

GCFSI Lab Michigan State University• To find solutions to global food system

challenges caused by:• Climate change

• Population growth

• Rapid urbanization, and

• Skill gaps in the food systems value chain

GCFSI/Team 3

Focuses on the:1 •Human skill implications of ongoing food system transformations and threats to global food security

•Best approaches to producing those skills, and

•Institutional innovations that are needed if these skills are to be developed in an ongoing, sustainable fashion

Transforming Education and Training for the Food System

• Multi-sector involvement (Higher ed, VET, private sectors, government, civil society)

• Participatory (local control and authority)

• Collaborative (working towards a common goal)

• Systems approach to change & transformation (all change part of larger entity)

Nature of Change Needed to Address Evolving Skills in Food System• Interdisciplinary – multiple disciplines working

together to address emerging needs

• Inter-institutional – universities and vocational schools sharing capacities

• International – countries developing policies to foster collaboration in training programs