HED Semi-Annual Progress Report for AHEED (April_2009)

Higher Education for Development Knowledge, Partnerships, Results _ Institutional Partnerships Program Semi-Annual Progress Report Due April 30, 2009 _ INTRODUCTION The information partnerships provide create the basis of HED’s partnership results disseminated to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the higher education community USAID will use this information to report development results to the U.S Congress Your contribution of information is critical to Congress’ understanding of development and the future funding of such programs  Both the U.S and host country partners should be involved in the writing of this report, whenever possible It is the U.S institution’s responsibility to submit this report by the due date to HED  Carefully review the attached Glossary of Terms for key definitions to assist you in completing the report accurately Hyperlinks are available for some terms Partnership Title: AHEED: Albania-Hawaii Higher Education and Economic Development Partnership: Increasing Institutional Capacity in Agricultural Economics Development Area/Sector of Focus: Agriculture/Agribusiness/Animal Science; Economic Growth & Trade U.S Partner Institution(s): University of Hawaii at Manoa U.S Partnership Director(s): Name: Dr Catherine Chan-Halbrendt Telephone: 01-808-956-2626 E-mail: chanhalb@hawaii.edu Host Country(ies): Albania Host Country Partner Institution(s): Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT) Host Country Partnership Director(s): Name: Dr Engjell Skreli Telephone: 00355 6840 38941 E-mail: ishpp@yahoo.com Partnership Web Site (if any): http://manoa.hawaii.edu/ctahr/aheed The U.S institutional partner is required to enter information about all training activities for host country nationals that take place in the United States, the host country, or a third country into USAID’s TraiNet system The results of these progress reports will be compared with data the partnership has entered into TraiNet For more information regarding TraiNet, please contact the USAID TraiNet/VCS helpdesk (703) 527-4340 or jvisa@devis.com Please mail or e-mail the completed report and any attachments to your primary contact at: Higher Education for Development Dupont Circle, NW, Room 1B30 Washington, DC 20036-1193 N.B This is a new address OVERVIEW OF PARTNERSHIP REPORTING REQUIREMENTS Report Name Semi-Annual Progress Report Semi-Annual Progress Report Final report Period Covered 10/1 – 3/31 4/1 – 9/30 Entire Award Period Date Due April 30 October 31 30 days after sub-agreement end date I QUALITATIVE PROGRAM INFORMATION FOR OCTOBER 1, 2008 – MARCH 31, 2009 Describe in bullet form the major activities for this partnership during the past months (10/1/083/31/09) For each of the above activities, describe the results and/or outcomes for each activity; answer in bullet form if appropriate If helpful, instead of answering questions and 2, you may use the following chart for reporting the activities and outcomes associated with specific partnership objectives Please feel free to insert additional lines as needed PLEASE SEE TABLE BELOW ACTIVITY Forming of Administrative Council     Assess curriculum, courses, facilities, research equipment, faculty, graduate program criteria to identify needs for curriculum reform   Process PI met with members of AUT and MOA to discuss formation of administrative committee Members should include representative stakeholders from higher education, extension and farm organizations to represent them Tentative list of members and terms of reference (list of responsibilities for the administrative committee) was proposed Finalized the list of members and the terms of reference for the administrative committee FEA Masters program courses gathered, reviewed, and compared to courses from renowned US universities such as Purdue, University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Kansas State University, Penn State University and Texas A&M FEA currently developing a state-of-the-art MS II program that is a system of 3+2+1 which refers to years in First Level         Results Formed on December 12, 2008 Members are: two AUT faculty (Bahri Musabelliu, Dean of FEA and Engjell Skreli, faculty of FEA), two MOA employees (Tatiana Dishnica, Director of the Department of Extension Service, Research and Ag Information in MOA and Irfan Tarrelli, MOA) and Dr Chan-Halbrendt (PI for AHEED project) Dean Bahri Musabelliu was elected head of administrative committee Committee terms of reference was created Proposal submitted to Ministry of Education for a new FEA M.Sc.II program that includes new tracks tracks are: Enterprise Management, Agricultural Economics and Policy, Financial Management and Rural Development New tracks require Cores I courses, Core II courses, Elective courses and thesis research Core I courses: Applied Economics for Business Management, Research Methodology, Application of Quantitative Analysis and Seminar in Economics and Agriculture       OUTCOME Committee monitors progress of AHEED Convened twice to discuss project progress Project on-track New M.Sc.II curriculum and courses proposal submitted New core courses to be taught in Project Year & by US instructors with a paired FEA Faculty Plan for teaching of Core I and Core II courses in Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 ACTIVITY Coordinate a discussion with FEA faculty, private sector and relevant business leaders and MOA to discuss areas where FEA’s graduate program needs strengthening; Prepared and conducted baseline surveys; collect data on partnership’s impact on program delivery Process Diploma + years in Second Level Diploma + year in a masters program   A meeting was held and surveys conducted to determine input on what FEA needs strengthening FEA faculty and students, MOA, and potential employers interviewed and/or surveyed Results  Core II courses: required courses and they are different for each track  elective courses: chosen from a list of courses specific for each track  Thesis research required for all tracks Faculty discussions  Pointed towards a restructured curriculum; focusing more on management and agricultural economics with added direction in rural develoment and financial management Students self-survey results:  Learning outcomes: Rated higher for knowledge and comprehension gain with 3.81 and 3.89 out of possible 5, respectively; average on analysis (3.14), synthesis (3.31) and evaluation (3.37); and lower for the application of learned material (2.41)  Human resource training: Rating for work ethics (4.22), management skills (4.22) and human relations(4.07) rate high, followed by communication (3.84) and global perspectives (3.57)  Ratings for skills in terms of real world experiences specifically recognizing career opportunities and performing technical and managerial duties is about average (3.42) along with computer (3.29) and leadership (3.22) skills  Analytical skills, specifically determining a solution to a problem and using scientific methods for investigations, were rated at average (3.49) Employers rating on graduate work prepareness  Ranked communication skills, work ethics, management, problem solving/analytical OUTCOME  Plan to submit survey results to Administrative Committee in the Summer 2009 for discussion, strategic planning and implementation ACTIVITY Process   Prepare workshops on grant writing    Identifying research topics (Priority Setting)     Conducted a grant writing workshop in December 2008 Workshop was advertised widely in locations such as extension offices, the university, USAID and to the general public The grant writing workshop covered preparation, writing, and submission tips for grant writing and also on logic model/framework In December 2008, conducted priority setting workshops Advertised to FEA faculty & students, MOA, business sector and to the general public 2nd workshop conducted at the request of MOA Presented a systematic approach to identifying/prioritizing research topics based on a specified goal and            Results skills and leadership skills high on their list of important skills (4.00 and higher) Students need to improve on communication (2.80), analytical (2.20), and quantitative (2.20) skills Recommended experience based learning as needed for better job preparedness (3.43 out of a possible 4) Completed a grant writing workshop 47 people participated 53% of the participants were females and the workshop included people from MOA, FEA, business community and the public 76% considered the workshop a valuable learning experience for them About 60% believed that they would be able to use what they have learned 66% wrote that the workshop stimulated their learning Conducted workshop on priority setting 34 on the first day and 28 on the second day for a total of 62 attendees Prioritization setting had an average of 32% female participation for both workshops Prioritizing survey was conducted at the end of the workshop to find out from the participants what the important commodities were to research on Combined survey Results Ranked the criteria starting with the most important as being marketability, increase profit, efficiency, export and then maintaining natural resources OUTCOME Initiated talk about conducting contracted research with the Albania Agricultural Competitiveness Project  This prioritized list of commodities will be presented to the advisory committee and extension to determine the particular issues of these commodities that has to be researched ACTIVITY   Develop improved standards and departmental guidelines for relevant graduate research so graduates successfully enter reputable Ph.D programs and national workforce Begin planning for annual agricultural economics symposium to highlight research accomplishments     Process criteria Demonstrated the approach in an two-step activity: identify a goal and list of criteria for evaluating selected commodities Approach used the Analytical Hierarchy Program (AHP) to prioritize the important commodities for research Faculty of FEA and administrative committee are developing guidelines for research In December 2008, discussed organizing of an April conference to showcase research work by faculty and students Planned an April conference organized by AUT and cosponsored by AHEED was set in motion Workshop was advertised and submission of abstracts accepted  Results Commodities prioritized for research with olives as the most important followed by tomatoes, sheep, potatoes, maize and then wheat OUTCOME  Expected output of this process will be research projects in progress, research papers and experiences gained by the students and faculty Expected outcome would be high quality graduates students   Conference to be held on April 15th, 2009 Title: “Farm efficiency and vertical integration of supply channels and their roles to increasing competitiveness” Attendance is expected to be 150 participants    Expected outcome would be to improve FEA reputation in research relevancy and quality Inaugural conference will pave the way to future sustainable annual conferences to showcase relevant research of FEA ACTIVITY Encourage faculty to submit research outputs to international conferences Process   Members of the faculty & students of FEA and MOA had conducted research work With encouragement and assistance from Dr ChanHalbrendt, paper presentations, poster presentations, symposium session and selected paper for an FAO sponsored workshop had been submitted to the IAMA conference to be held at Budapest, Hungary in June 2009 Results       IAMA is the global premier academic conference for agribusiness, agricultural policies and other food chain related topics All presentations are competitively selected Acceptance rate is about 75% paper presentations, “Assessing quality and safety of food & beverage products: An analysis of agribusiness enterprises in Tirana District/Albania” and “Competitiveness of Albanian agriculture: Value chain study for fruits and vegetable sector in Fier region” poster presentations:“Assessing the comparative advantage of olive oil production in Albania” and “identifying some key indicators benchmarks (competitive benchmark) helping meat processors in Albania improving their management decisions” Symposium discussion entitled “Market oriented strategies to revitalize Albania’s agricultural industry” Symposium discussion will cover the value chain study fo vegetable and fruits, assessment of the comparative advantages of olive oil, role of extesion and the role of cooperatives Selected paper “Value chain structure and governance changes medicinal and aromatic plants in Albania-Implications for poverty reduction and rural development” will be present at the FAO-IAMA workshop OUTCOME  faculty and students, extension director and industry person submitted papers and were accepted at the IAMA conference ACTIVITY Assess Agricultural Technology Transfer Centers (ATTC) for relevancy, constraints and needs to become full functioning Centers to support the Agricultural Information Centers and to assist clients and community 10 Develop skills on how to create good plan of work using logic framework evaluation and impact analysis 11 Communication & dissemination of the project  Process Results Recommendations: Dr Halina Zaleski, an  Train farmers to operate successful farms Extension Specialist at the University of Hawaii, through better business management skills assessed needs of  Focus training on subsistence farms extension and farmers in  Increase KASH involvement in consulting Albania on September on beneficial services such as research & 2008 extension for farmers  Extension needs more localized information and lower reliance on foreign pamphlets  MOA needs to have better utilization of data collected from representative farms  MOA/AUT needs to develop a mechanism to fund research at the university  Create a system for feedback from users to researchers to provide input regarding results  OUTCOME Recommendations to be presented to the advisory committee, AUT and MOA  Framework was presented to FEA faculty and Students via workshop  Logical framework for planning presented  Expected outcome would be a good plan of work  Design logo, powerpoint template and acquire website address     Logo created Website address acquired Internet access at AUT received Power point template developed for all presentations and communications  Increasing awareness of AHEED led to AAC requesting possible assistance in their research needs received additional funding from USAID to build an internet infrastructure for AUT Having an internet access greatly enhanced AUT Faculty’s resources for research   How are the above activities and outcomes reported in questions and benefiting and/or helping to strengthen the capacity of the host country higher education institution(s)? 3.1 Formed administrative and advisory committees - Enhance transparency and stakeholders’ inclusiveness in decision making - Build capacity in monitoring and evaluation of project implementation and priority setting 3.2 Assessed M.Sc.II degree evaluation - Bring AUT/FEA program to world standards - Graduates will be competitive on the local and world market - Graduates will be more prepared to deal with real world problems 3.3 Discussion meeting with stakeholders for strengthening FEA’s graduate program - Graduates will be trained in skills appropriately to address societal problems - Faculty will gain knowledge from feedback to revise their curriculum and syllabi 3.4 Conducted grant writing workshop - Enhance writing skills and grant writing acumen so faculty and students get more external monetary resources to conduct their work 3.5 Conducted baseline surveys - Increase capacity to conduct surveys and receive information to develop better and relevant curriculum, programs, courses and student advising 3.6 Conducted grant writing and prioritization setting workshops - Increase capacity through introducing tools that would assist in acquiring research funding for relevant programs or prioritized areas to research The latter will satisfy taxpayers and government for supporting higher education 3.7 Developed improved standards and departmental guidelines for relevant graduate research - Enhancing a higher educational system that have consistent, quality research which will raise the opportunity for faculty to advance and graduates to enter into prestigious PhD programs or workforce 3.8 Planned annual conference to showcase research work - Raise the awareness of the public as to the contributions of AUT/FEA in producing quality graduates and conducting useful research for policy decisions - Enhance communication skills of faculty and students - Enhance networking opportunities to collaborate 3.9 Planned research presentation in international conferences - Increase awareness and knowledge of AUT/FEA faculty and students on the standards of the world and receive first class feedback on their research endeavors - Enhance english skills for IAMA conference participants - Enhance capacity through opportunities of working with other scientists with similar interests - Networking with the rest of the world for collaboration and scholarly exchanges 3.10 Assessed Agricultural Technology Transfer Centers (ATTC) - Enhance faculty ability to conduct relevant research based on the needs of the ATTC - Improve quality of students with better ATTCs to internships 3.11 Conducted workshop on plan of work using logic framework evaluation and impact analysis - Enhance faculty, staff and students in developing better plan of work and at the same time assessing the progress and implementation of projects and programs 3.12 Disseminating information on AHEED project - Faculty and students not directly involve with the project have the opportunity to participate in the activities of the project to enhance their capacity to deliver their job responsibilities such as teaching, research and outreach - Raise awareness of USAID’s activities for world development How are the above activities and outcomes from this partnership benefiting and/or helping to strengthen the capacity of the host country community? 4.1 Formed administrative and advisory committees - These committees include community members such that their participation will enhance their capacity to contribute effectively and have a stake in the decisions being made - Those community members involved are getting experience in running committees and work effectively on committees 4.2 Assessed M.Sc.II degree evaluation - Community will have a stronger workforce that are highly trained with appropriate skills 4.3 Conducted meeting with stakeholders for strengthening FEA’s graduate program - Raise awareness of community as to their role in shaping a quality program that addresses research problems for solving societal/community issues 4.4 Conducted grant writing workshop - Community members participated will be able to write better grants and be successful to get needed resources for community development and/or with the funds to contract faculty to work on issues of high priority of the community 4.5 Conducted baseline surveys - Community members learn how to develop and conduct surveys to gauge the preferences of particular policies that affects them 4.6 Conducted grant writing and prioritization setting workshops - Community would benefit from the results of the researched work that faculty and students are successful in getting the grants to work on - Gained capacity on how to prioritize their community projects 4.7 Developed improved standards and departmental guidelines for relevant graduate research - Community will have better solutions for their problems as they will have quality faculty and students working to solve the problems 4.8 Planned annual conference to showcase research work - Access to information for the community from research work done by the faculty and students - Community expands their network with the University faculty and students for future opportunities to collaborate 4.9 Planned research presentation in international conferences - Provide quality information on Albania and its community to the world and visa versa 4.10 Assessed Agricultural Technology Transfer Centers (ATTC) - This will benefit the community by assisting in the process of providing full functioning, relevant centers that can give support and assistance to community members 4.11 Conducted workshop on plan of work using logic framework evaluation and impact analysis - This will benefit the community by providing good plan of work that provide results and impacts from the research work that is deemed necessary by the community members 4.12 Disseminating information on AHEED project - Community remains aware of the progress and contribution that the U.S funded project is providing - Community can assist in providing match making opportunities with other organizations to work together and not duplicating efforts 10 How are these activities and outcomes benefiting the U.S higher education institution(s)? Faculty: Enhance research collaboration Information exchange – cultural & scientific Students: Broaden students global knowledge Employment and exchange opportunities Organization: Information exchange and learning Enhance opportunity to increase extramural activities More opportunity for exchange students Raise UH/NREM reputation globally as an organization with global reach and presence Increase NREM’s reputation in building capacity in agricultural economics How are these activities and outcomes benefiting the U.S community and/or community institution(s)? Enhancing the understanding of U.S insitutions and their functions Information and knowledge sharing with international communities Enhance inter-country and cultural understanding Build better relationships for global issues resolution such as climate change and diplomacy Enhance opportunities for international trade Enhance research collaboration and information exchange with individual or business enterprises List other collaborating host country institutions, e.g., NGOs, community-based organizations, government agencies, small businesses, education institutions, and briefly describe their involvement in partnership activities during the past six months MOA (Ministry of Agriculture, Albania) – Specifically the extension services offered by MOA and Agricultural Technology Transfer Centers (ATTC) that assists farmers Dr Dishnica from MOA is a member of the advisory committee and will also be participating in the IAMA conference KASH (Albanian Business Council) – A federation of farmer and commodity group that represents farmers on political questions and in organizing events to help farmers market their products The executive director of KASH, Zydi Teqja, is a member of the advisory committee Albania USAID Assisted in providing internet Others from the input industry association List other collaborating U.S institutions, e.g., NGOs, community-based organizations, government agencies, small businesses, education institutions, and briefly describe their involvement in partnership activities during the past six months Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM), University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) – A department under the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) at the UHM Florida State University 11 What has been the partnership’s greatest success(es) during the past six months? The greatest successes of this project to date is the creation of the MS II degree program roposal and the acceptance of faculty and students scholarly work to the internationally renowned IAMA conference whose association is a network for worldwide academics specializing in agribusiness, marketing, value chain and agribusiness policies 10 Describe any programmatic challenges during the past six months Resources are extremely limited such that accomplishing all the activities require close monitoring of the budget US faculty availability to participate has to fit a particular time such as spring break, thanksgiving or during the holidays This was not such a great problem as the AUT faculty are very accommodating Cannot ask for a better group of people to work with Teaching of the courses were delayed for a few months as the revised curriculum has to be approved by the Ministry of Education There seems to be a gap between wanting to and commitment of the advisory committee members to work together to fully integrate the research function into the university system For example, prioritizing research needs; developing a mechanism for contracting and funding research projects are needed, but no concrete plans have occurred AHEED has provided assistance for the formation of the advisory committee and continues to support them in terms of logistics and had provided workshops on priority setting for the members However, the advisory committee must initiate the next step of integrating research into the university system In the mean time, suggested ways to carry out the research needs for AUT to obtain extramural funding for projects that are of importance for ATTC and Albanian agriculture; and to improve commitment it may be necessary to include more stakeholders involvement such as USAID 11 Do you anticipate any major changes to planned activities during the next six months? Courses will be taught in Fall ’09 instead of Spring ’09 because the MSII program is waiting for approval from the Ministry of Education 12 Outline your partnership’s planned activities for the next six months A.) April conference organized by AUT on “Farm efficiency and vertical integration of stakeholders as a very important factor of increasing competitiveness: The role of private and public stakeholders.” This conference will be held in April A member of AHEED will be attending and giving workshops on Research Ethics and Teaching Methods at the request of AUT B.) In June, Dr Chan-Halbrendt will be traveling to Albania to work on these objectives: Goal d Establish a UH to FEA faculty mentoring and coaching program focusing on ways to improve FEA’s faculty professional development e Revise courses and co-teach 3-5 key courses (research methodology, applied microeconomics, finance etc.) f Establish UH/FEA faculty advisement mentorship Three to five students will begin their research thesis under this arrangement 12 Goal a Engage faculty in collaborative scholarly research activities c Develop research and quantitative methods courses to strengthen applied research d Schedule and plan regular seminar to foster sharing of research ideas, results and discussion on policy implications f Explore interest in an off-shore degree with UH i Evaluate and monitor impact of first year’s activities and make necessary adjustments j Develop internship agreement between FEA and MOA for graduate students Goal a Assess MOA’s agricultural economics training needs through a focus group b Establish or strengthen an agricultural advisory committee that meets regularly to determine priorities for extension and research development C.) Also in June, the IAMA conference will be held at Budapest, Hungary of which some of the faculty and students of FEA will attend Some members of MOA and KASH will be attending as well There will be a discussion session, paper presentations and a poster presentation and a paper will also be presented at the FAO-IAMA workshop also happening during the IAMA conference 13 Overall, activities for this partnership are: _on schedule x_ ahead of schedule _behind schedule The U.S instructors that were going to Albania to teach for Spring 2009 will be moved to Fall 2009 due to pending approval from Albania’s Department of Education for the newly proposed curriculum 14 How has information about your partnership been disseminated during this reporting period? Dissemination of information about the Project has been through the workshops in Albania, encounters with various institutions/organizations both in Albania and Hawaii, and recently at the International Education Day of which various collaborative projects with international countries were displayed to inform Hawaii’s legislators, lobbyists and the general public at the Hawaii State Capitol     Photographs (enclose prints or a CD-rom with high resolution images); Articles publishes in the campus, local, national, or international media; Papers published or presented; Features in any other media Please note that any photos submitted are intended to be used for HED publicity materials HED reserves the right to use these images in its fact sheets, success stories, presentations, website, and other outreach materials Please include a caption and photo credit information with the images 13 II QUANTITATIVE PROGRAM INFORMATION FOR OCTOBER 1, 2008 – MARCH 31, 2009 Please provide appropriate numbers to support the following activities for the reporting period (10/1/08-3/31/09) See Progress Report Glossary for definitions Please note that a participant/recipient involved in mutually exclusive activities should be counted for each activity NB: To avoid double counting, report only NEW participant numbers for this reporting period unless specifically stated otherwise TABLE Participant Information Number of New MALE Participants* Activities for Current Reporting Period Students Faculty, Administrators 25 yrs & under 26 yrs & over Number of New FEMALE Participants* Others 25 yrs & under 26 yrs & over Students Faculty, Administrators 25 yrs & under 26 yrs & over Location of Activity Others 25 yrs & under 26 yrs & over United States 1) Number of exchanges begun this reporting period for HCNs coming to the United States: Description of exchanges: Host Country N/A 2) Number of exchanges begun this reporting period for U.S participants going to the host country: Description of exchanges: N/A 3) Number of HCNs participating in new internships this reporting period: Description of internships: 4) Number of HCNs receiving new scholarships this reporting period Description of scholarships: 5) Number of HCNs receiving new certificate/diploma and/or non-degree training this reporting period via workshops, seminars, special classes (not internships) Description of certificate/diploma and/or non-degree training: 14 TOTALS NEW Participants this Reporting Period Participants since START DATE of Partnership *U.S government reports often require participants to be described by gender (male or female) and by estimated age: youth (25 years and under) or adult (26 years and over) 15 TABLE Degree Training Number of New MALE Participants* Number of New FEMALE Participants* TOTAL Number of New Participants Location of Training Degrees Awarded this Reporting Period Degrees Awarded since START DATE of Partnership MEN MEN PROGRAM 25 yrs & under 26 yrs & over 25 yrs & under 26 yrs & over This Reporting Period Since START DATE of Partnership United States Host Country WOMEN WOMEN Baccalaureate Masters Doctorate Description of degree training programs: *U.S government reports often require participants to be described by gender (male or female) and by estimated age: youth (25 years and under) or adult (26 years and older) 16 TABLE Leveraged Contributions made this Reporting Period CONTRIBUTIONS Name/Source of Contribution Description of Contribution Estimated U.S Dollar Value of Contribution Other leveraged contributions not reported as official or proposed cost share TABLE Institutional Capacity Strengthening Activities Please describe how any of the following capacity strengthening activities are a result of your partnership work at the HCN institution during this reporting period (10/1/08 – 3/31/09) ACTIVITY Adapted/changed curricula Improved methods of instruction Collaborative research undertaken Collaborative publication prepared New academic programs established this reporting period Promoted workforce development Involved in community outreach Description The FEA masters program was reviewed and compared with other renowned US universities to develop a new M.Sc.II program It was found that FEA has applied economic courses and quantitative courses that were comparable There were other comparable courses, but most were considered electives rather than core courses A revision of the FEA masters study program was conducted and a proposal of new M.Sc.II program was submitted to the Albanian Ministry of Education pending approval Not applicable at this time Collaborative research with AUT faculty and student, members of MOA and KASH director with AHEED project members Topics include roles of extension and marketing cooperatives, value chain studies on herbs and fruits and vegetables and competitiveness of the olive oil industry Collaborative papers on the above list research were written and submitted to international conference for presentation (See activity Table no for exact titles) Priority setting, research ethics and grant writing workshops were held to help increase the knowledge and assist people by teaching them tools that they can use in their work Planned April conference entitled “Farm efficiency and vertical integration of supply channels and their roles to increasing competitiveness” will include academic community, extension and policy makers Expected attendance is 150 Supported increased trade capacity 17 Informed policy at institutional, community, and/or national levels Consulted with government agencies, NGO group, and/or private sector groups Other Presentation at the International Education Day at the Hawaii State Capitol was done to inform legislatures and the public about the AHEED project and the benefits of the project to the Albanian community, U.S community and to the global community Planned April conference entitled “Farm efficiency and vertical integration of supply channels and their roles to increasing competitiveness” will include academic community, extension and policy makers Expected attendance is 150 Met with AAC for possible project collaboration Met with ATTC members to assess extension research and training needs III.PARTNERSHIP PROFILE A.) The Albania-Hawaii Higher Education and Economic Development (AHEED) is a program whose primary objective is to strengthen the Faculty of Economics and Agribusiness’ (FEA) capacity to provide quality graduate education and to build institutional capacity for effective training, consulting, and advising to the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), extension agencies, and producer associations This can be accomplished by co-developing a state-of-the-art curriculum, graduate courses, and instruction approaches in agricultural economics; by strengthening the applied research and policy analysis capacity of the FEA faculty and students; and by co-developing and teaching of training modules for extension staff and business on topics such as data collection and dissemination, farm management, and market and trade policy analysis Anticipated outcomes include, but are not limited to, a quality M.S curriculum attracting Albanian and Foreign students; competitiveness in entering the workforce and Ph.D programs; recognition of the M.S degree by European and U.S institutions; FEA submitting competitive grants proposals and conducting in-depth analysis of agricultural policy and international trade; MOA and stakeholders jointly setting priorities for research and analysis; FEA faculty and graduate students presenting findings in regional and international conferences; FEA and MOA evaluating the effectiveness of the training and upgrading materials as needed; and resource materials being made available for training in farm management and market and policy analysis B.) One success story related to your partnership Gauging Quality: Sometimes Numbers Tell the Story Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM), University of Hawaii Faculty of Economics and Agribusiness (FEA), Agricultural University of Tirana The faculty and students of Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT) traditionally conduct research solely for job promotion and student degree requirements The outputs of the research were seldom disseminated to scientific forums for information exchanges and feedback or to extension that might have benefitted from their work One of the program objectives of the Albania-Hawaii Higher Education and Economic Development (AHEED) program is to enhance AUT/FEA capacity to conduct relevant applied research so that they can increase their contributions to the economic development and social prosperity of Albania and at the same time boost their reputation as a quality graduate program worldwide 18 The International Agribusiness Management Association (IAMA) is a well-known worldwide leadership conference attended by top executives, academics, policy makers, students and stakeholders from all around the world IAMA was founded by Dr Ray Goldberg from Harvard University to stimulate strategic thinking across the full spectrum of the food chain With the aid of AHEED, several AUT students and faculty, extension and an industry person submitted research papers for presentation to IAMA for the upcoming conference in June at Budapest, Hungary Although not all submissions were accepted, AUT has presentations that have been competitively selected to be presented in three categories: one discussion symposium entitled: “Market oriented strategies to revitalize Albania’s agricultural industry”; two poster presentations entitled: “Identifying some key indicators benchmarks to help Albanian meat processors improve their management decisions” and “Assessing the comparative advantage of olive oil production in Albania”; and two paper presentations entitled: “Assessing quality and safety of food & beverage products: An analysis of agribusiness enterprises in Tirana District/Albania” and “Competitiveness of Albanian agriculture: Value chain study for fruits and vegetable sector in Fier region.” Another faculty member has a paper that was also accepted to the FAO workshop on “Agribusiness and Agro-industries Development in Central and Eastern Europe” entitled “Value Chain Structure and Governance Changes Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Albania – Implications for Poverty Reduction and Rural Development.” These efforts are major accomplishments from a Faculty that has limited scholarly exchanges historically with their world counterparts It is expected that the experience from attending the conference, partially funded by Albania USAID, will enhance knowledge and skills to bring back to Albania to enhance their own and students’ capacity to address agricultural economics problems in Albania THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION 19 ...OVERVIEW OF PARTNERSHIP REPORTING REQUIREMENTS Report Name Semi-Annual Progress Report Semi-Annual Progress Report Final report Period Covered 10/1 – 3/31 4/1 – 9/30 Entire... QUALITATIVE PROGRAM INFORMATION FOR OCTOBER 1, 2008 – MARCH 31, 2009 Describe in bullet form the major activities for this partnership during the past months (10/1/083/31/09) For each of the above... conference 13 Overall, activities for this partnership are: _on schedule x_ ahead of schedule _behind schedule The U.S instructors that were going to Albania to teach for Spring 2009 will be moved