*Important to use this revised report format*
Higher Education for Development
Knowledge, Partnerships, Results
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Collaborative Partnerships Program
Semi-Annual Progress Report
Report Period
October 1, 2009 – March 31, 2010
Due April 30, 2010
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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 the overall understanding of development and the future funding of such programs.
PARTNERSHIP INFORMATION
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: Prof.Catherine Chan-Halbrendt
Telephone: 808-956-7530
E-mail:
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:
Partnership Web Site (if any): http://manoa.hawaii.edu/ctahr/aheed
Please mail or e-mail the completed report and any attachments to your primary contact at:
Higher Education for Development
1 Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 420
Washington, DC 20036-1110
INSTRUCTIONS
· Both the U.S. and host country partners should be involved in writing progress reports. It is the U.S. institution’s responsibility to submit these reports to HED by the due date. It is also the U.S. institution’s responsibility to translate responses to English, as necessary.
· Carefully review the attached Glossary of Terms for key definitions to assist you in completing the report accurately.
· Please include as much information as necessary to answer the questions completely. Enter zeros when necessary. If any spaces are left blank, the report will be returned for completion.
· 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 or 703-879-8611.
OVERVIEW OF PARTNERSHIP REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Report Name Period Covered Date Due
Semi-Annual Progress Report 10/1 – 3/31 April 30
Semi-Annual Progress Report 4/1 – 9/30 October 15
Final report Entire Award Period 30 days after sub-agreement end date
I. QUALITATIVE PROGRAM INFORMATION FOR OCTOBER 1, 2009 – MARCH 31, 2010
1. Describe in bullet form the major activities for this partnership during the past six months (10/1/09-3/31/10).
PLEASE REFER THE TABLE BELOW
2. For each of the above activities, describe the results and/or outcomes for each activity; answer in bullet form if appropriate.
PLEASE REFER THE TABLE BELOW
If helpful, instead of answering questions 1 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.
Progress Report Oct 1st 2009- March 30th 2010
These are activities under end of year 1 and 1st Quarter of year two.
Activities / Process / Results / Outcomes1 e. Revise courses and co-teach 3-5 key courses / The proposal for the New MSc.II course was approved by the Albanian Council of Ministers in August 2009.
Four M.Sc. II courses were selected for co-teaching in the Fall of 2009. Two of the courses are from the Core I Course required by all FEA students to attend, 1 is a core requirement for the Enterprise Management track and 1 is a required course for the Agricultural Economics and Policies track. The following link provides details of the Fall 2009 course list
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/ctahr/aheed/Fall%202009%20Courses.html
Three courses were also identified and offered in Spring 2010.
They include: 1. AgribusinessRisk Management (Financial Risk Management) taught by Dr. Christie Chang from University of Canberra and supported by Drs. M. Mece and D. Risilia from AUT ; 2. Application of Quantitative Analysis taught Prof. PingSun Leung, UH Manoa and supported by Prof Parashqevi Rrapo from AUT and 3. International Agriculture Trade Policies taught by Prof. Alexander F. McCalla , UC Davis and supported E. Skreli and R. Kola of AUT and
The following link provides details of the Spring 2010 course list
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/ctahr/aheed/Spring%202010%20Courses.html / Four courses confirmed to be taught in Fall 2009 have been accomplished. They include: Applied Economics for Business management by Dr. J. Yanagida (UH Manoa) and I.Qinami, T.Nelaj (AUT). Evaluations indicate that majority “strongly agreed” on gaining knowledge, with good comprehension, and analyze and evaluate what they learned. Majority also “agreed” that they have confidence in applying and synthesizing what they learned.
Strategic Management in Agribusiness was offered by, Q. Dombro (Private instructor) and D.Kercini B.Musabelliu (AUT). Course evaluations indicate that majority “strongly agreed” on gaining knowledge, confidence in applying what they learned, and synthesizing and evaluating it. Majority also “agreed” that they have good comprehension of the subject and analysis.
Applied Econometrics is yet to be taught.
AgribusinessRisk Management (Financial Risk Management) taught by Dr Christie Chang and supported by M. Mece, D. Risilia from AUT was evaluated by the students and the evaluations indicate that majority “strongly agreed” on gaining knowledge, with good comprehension, synthesis and evaluation on the subject. Majority also “agreed” that they have confidence in applying and analyzing what they learned / · Improved faculty teaching
· Increased learning capacity of faculty and students
· Introduction of new knowledge in the field
2 e. Establish a three way UH/FEA/MOA trainer/advisor mentorship to develop relevant training modules and conduct the training workshops.
Establish MOU with FEA/NGO and other organizations for research and internship opportunities / As of yet no training or workshops have been conducted through a three way UH/FEA/MOA collaborationBut we have conducted workshops on topics sanctioned by MOA and delivered by UH.
However a strong collaboration between UH, AUT and USAID-Albanian Agriculture Albania Agricultural Competitiveness Program (AAC) has provided internship opportunities to 10 master's students.
Also a MOU with a local consulting firm, DSA Consult (www.dsaconsult.com) has also been established to provide internships for students.
Training workshops by Professor Dombro with MOA were held on Oct 13th and 14th, 2009 and 24 and 25 participants attended respectively. The following link provides details of his training program.
http://www.executivemanagementskills.com/index.html / The USAID-Albanian
Agricultural Competitiveness Program has provided internship opportunities to 10 master's students, out of 15 initially proposed by AHEED.
The 10 masters students who received internship offers under the AAC-AUT collaboration are:
1. Besiana Lito
2. Xhemil Gjana
3. Erisa Musabelliu
4. Joana Gerollari
5. Vilma Xhakollari
6. Elona Muci
7. Orion Xhoxhi
8. Sejnada Beshku
9. Jetmir Buci
10.Vjola Elezi
The main activities in which they have engaged include:
-Administration of 642 farm surveys in support of the citrus and olive value chains.
-Approximately 211 days were utilized in carrying out data analysis
-The collaboration between AAC and AUT has so far paid stipends for US$6,782.
2 students received internship opportunities with DSA Consult, a local NGO.
All the workshops participants indicated having completed all 10 topics covered through the workshop- 1. Entrepreneurship; 2.Business Startups; 3 Business Plans; 4 Personnel Policies; 5 Management; 6. Marketing; 7. Pricing; 8. Promotions; 9. Distribution; 10. Quality. / The internship through AAC and additional internship opportunities received through local NGO DSA Consult provided excellent practical experience and learning opportunities to students.
Increased learning capacity of students.
Introduction of new knowledge in the field.
Increased learning opportunities and hands-on research experience for graduate students.
Workshop evaluation indicated that the participants found the discussion of case studies and making a business plan are extremely useful. It was also suggested that additional training related to agribusiness be provided.
The participants also found the professor to be experienced and knowledgeable and his interactive style of teaching very useful.
2 f. Explore the interest for an off-shore degree with UH / Possibilities to establish an off-shore degree with UH will be explored during the upcoming visits by Dr Chan-Halbrendt. This includes finding out if there is a demand for a MBA-in Agribusiness, or MS in NREM degree in resource management and economics andestimating the cost and revenue generated from offering such a degree. The willingness and availability among NREM and Business school faculty to participate and last but not the least the willingness among AUT students to pay the fees and earn an NREM degree from m UH Manoa / Information on the required paper works from UH Manoa to propose the program has been collected. The Office of Vice Chancellor or Academic Affairs, University of Hawaii was contacted to gather details on the preliminary steps to be taken towards proposing the program. The office of VCAA along with the Manoa Distance Learning Committee will be in charge of reviewing the proposal and assessing its feasibility.
Tentative budget is also being established / It will provide students a unique learning opportunity earning their degrees from UH Manoa.
It will also offer various opportunities for faculty from both Universities for continued research and teaching collaborations.
2 f. Explore the desirability of a agribusiness certificate for extension / Plans to explore an agribusiness certificate program will be undertaken.
During the next visit by Dr. Chan-Halbrendt, the following will be explored:
Find out if there is an interest among extension personnel, and faculty for the program
Identify faculty eligible to provide the required courses
Find out the cost and willingness to pay the required fees among students.
Find out whether AUT will issue a certificate / The Agribusiness Certificate Program strives to provide the students with the skills needed in agribusiness management and entrepreneurship.
The courses include:
1. Marketing of Agricultural Products
2. Agribusiness Accounting
3. Agribusiness Decision-Making Tools
4. Enterprise Management
Please see attached documents for more details / The agribusiness management certificate will enable:
1. To improve economic decision-making ability.
2. To provide with entrepreneurial skills essential for starting and managing a successful, sustainable agricultural business.
3. To give opportunities to gain hands-on experience with modern management science techniques that help agribusiness managers and industry analysts make sound business decisions.
4. To increase proficiency in formulating problems and implementing solutions using a computer model, with emphasis on spreadsheets
5. To offer real-world opportunities to evaluate information from a variety of sources in making crucial business decisions.
6. To contribute to understanding of marketing, management, finance, and how the traditional business-school approach is modified for plant and animal products raised on land or in the water.
2 g. Begin planning for annual agricultural economics symposium to highlight research accomplishments / Planning for the second (2010) annual agricultural economics symposium is underway. The title of the Symposium is ”Globalization and its impacts in Albanian agriculture and in the Agriculture Sector". It will be organized/co-sponsored by Agricultural University of Tirana (Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness), Ministry of Agriculture, University of Hawaii, with the support of AHEED project and GTZ project.
The following are the tentative dates for the program: Abstract Submission: 25 April; Full Paper: 20 May; Conference: 2 July. The expected audiences include- Faculty and University members; Ministry representatives; Other faculties (national and international); USAID, GTZ, AHEED; Extension service personnel , farmers, policy makers, young researchers, and students. / It is an excellent opportunity for AUT to gain experience in conducting a symposium of this scale. This would provide an excellent platform for researchers, students and faculty at AUT to present their research work, learn from other research works being undertaken, a venue to network with researchers from other Universities and other professionals. There were 131 attendees with 26 paper and poster submissions in the previous year’s conference. A similar number or more is expected this year as well. / Increased learning capacity, communication skills, methods of information exchange of students and faculty
Introduction of new knowledge in the field
Exposure to current and cutting edge research in agribusiness and agricultural economics and policy.
Opportunity to network with experts and fellow researchers in the field of Agribusiness and agricultural research.
3 g. Improve website with research papers, extension brief, working papers and links to databases. / Activities and all relevant information related to various activities, including courses offered, workshops held, and training programs are updated in the project website. It can be accessed at this address: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/ctahr/aheed/index.html
TEEAL (a database for agricultural journal references from 1993- 2009) that covers approximately 149 agricultural journals was purchased and is available to AUT students and faculty. / Course taught in all 2009 has been posted.
Courses to be offered in Spring 2010 has also been posted
Workshops and training programs for skill development held has been listed along with respective power points have been posted. / Easy access to and availability of key information on various activities.
Enhanced research capabilities with up-to-date database of approximately 149 agricultural journals and articles .
2 i. Evaluate and monitor impact of first years’ activities and make necessary adjustments / Some of the additional key developments for the first year have been establishing improved communication facilities through better internet access and computers. The project also paid one year subscription fees for the internet services (this is 2nd year activity). One time (it is also available in a disk so they can have it perennially) library subscription for all major agri-science and agribusiness journals (approximately 149 agricultural journals) was purchased at a cost of $4500. The main intentions were to enhance the ability to do research. All overall formal evaluation involving the technical committee will be conducted in summer. / These new provisions has been extremely useful in terms of improving communications as well as enhanced research capabilities and outputs by AUT as is evidenced from the number of papers being accepted and presented at different prestigious international conferences such as IAMA. / Improvement of project relevance and improved scholarship and research capabilities and opportunities for faculty and students of AUT.