Guyana to benefit from global learning network

Guyana Chronicle
November 30, 2002

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THIRTY-FOUR countries including Guyana are to benefit from distance education and training in agriculture, according to the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

A release said, IICA and the World Bank signed a Letter of Understanding that provides for the establishment of the Global Development Learning Network for Agriculture in the Americas (GDLNAA).

The network will make distance education and learning available to all IICA’s members thereby contributing to human resource development in IICA’s strategic areas for cooperation. These include trade and agri-business, sustainable rural development , agricultural health and food safety, technology and innovation, education and training and information and communication.

Under the two-year renewable agreement, IICA will be able to produce and broadcast courses and conferences on the subject of agriculture, establishing a hemispheric learning network that will be evaluated and upgraded periodically.

IICA will be responsible for administering and coordinating GDLNAA activities using videoconferencing technology, CD-ROM and Internet. The Bank will provide technological and financial support for certain activities.

It is expected that a large group of organizations throughout the hemisphere involved in agricultural education and training will be invited to participate. These would includes schools of agronomy and veterinary sciences, technical agricultural, forestry and veterinary colleges and producers’ organizations.

Established 60 years ago, IICA’s goal is to enable member states to achieve progress and prosperity in the hemisphere through the modernisation of the rural sector, the promotion of food security and the development of an agricultural sector that is competitive , technologically prepared, environmentally managed and socially equitable for the peoples of the Americas.

One of the objectives of the Institute is to support the transformation of agricultural education, in order to train scientists, technicians and entrepreneurs who will be able to effectively develop and reposition agriculture.

The IICA office in Guyana was established in 11975 and since that time the Institute has been working with the Ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries, Other Crops and Livestock and he National Agricultural Research Institute and various rural communities to promote agricultural development in the country.

IICA played an integral role in the establishment of the Guyana Agricultural Information Network (GAIN), an electronic system linking agricultural entities in the country.

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