The International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM Bari) is triggered to announce the start of the training Course titled "Water, Soil, and Crop Management in a Climate-Smart Agriculture."
The 1st Module of the Course will be focused on the Principles of Best Management Practices and Innovations and will take place from 11 to 16 December 2023, at CIHEAM Bari, Italy. The primary objective of this training and capacity-building initiative is to empower local actors in effectively implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) and innovations in their respective territories and communities.
Twenty beneficiaries from the study areas in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan were selected by Heliopolis University (HU), Water and Land Resource Centre, Addis Ababa University (WLRC), WRC Water Resource Centre University of Khartoum, and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and will attend the entire Course. Among the participants end-users, extensionists, junior researchers, public officers, and young innovators engaged in BMPs implementation and innovation projects. The event will also include professionals from diverse fields, including soil scientists, geneticists, agronomists, engineers, and officers. Conceived as a training for trainers, the participants to the Course will be able to transfer the new knowledge and techniques acquired during the Course to the community of farmers, local authorities, and other relevant actors.
On 11th December, Biagio Di Terlizzi, CIHEAM Bari Deputy Director and Claudio Bogliotti – CIHEAM Bari Head of EU Research Division DESIRA Programme Coordinator will welcome participants in the Campus “Cosimo Lacirignola” of the Italian headquarter of this International Organization.
The opening session will then include the presentation of the week’s training programme by Gaetano Ladisa – CIHEAM Bari Scientific Administrator & WATDEV scientific team leader and Silvia Lecci – CIHEAM Bari. The 1st Module will focus on Manuring, Agroforestry and Intercropping, Water Users’ Association, Crop rotation and Improved Seeds. Moreover, biophysical and socioeconomic sustainability of these BMPs will be tackled, aiming to spread knowledge on the fundamentals of sustainability, sustainability indicators/indices, and techniques for feasibility studies. Practical exercises will include a feasibility study on the implementation of BMPs in the four study areas.
On Friday, December 15th, participants will embark on a field visit to the Irrigation Scheme District managed by the Capitanata Consortium and to bio-engineering interventions in Rignano Garganico by the Consorzio di Bonifica Montana del Gargano.
The project WATDEV - Climate Smart WATer Management and Sustainable DEVelopment for Food and Agriculture in East Africa is funded by the DeSIRA initiative of the European Union. It aims to develop an in-depth understanding of small and large-scale water and agricultural resource dynamics and management to boost people’s resilience to climate, through innovative research, modelling, and capacity building approaches.
Agenda: