Over the next four weeks, 12 technical members of staff from to the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) will be benefiting from an Internship at the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) in Costa Rica.
This exercise, which commences today, June 17, 2019, was made possible through collaborations with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) and the Inter-American Development Bank funder Sustainable Agricultural Development Programme (SADP).
GLDA’s Chief Executive Officer Nigel Cumberbatch said the authority is thankful for the opportunity and anticipates a wealth of knowledge will be gained from this exercise.
“For this exercise, we’ve selected some of our [youngest], [most] vibrant and intellectual staff to participate in this internship to strengthen their technical capabilities in areas such as sustainable animal production. They will be trained at CATIE´s Campus as well as on some private farms that will provide the best opportunities for training in areas we’ve [GLDA] requested,” Mr Cumberbatch said.
Additionally, the participants will also be exposed to knowledge about small dairy cooperatives and organisations, as well as biotechnology applications.
The general theme for the training will be sustainable animal production, focusing on specific interests such as beef and dairy cattle, swine and sheep/goat production, farm management, monitoring and evaluation of performance for different production activities and biometrics, as well as topics related to the use of participatory methods for research and learning in the Farmers Field School approach, among others.
During the internship, the participants will conduct research into strategic topics for the agricultural sector, such as sustainable livestock production and value chains.
CATIE specialises in research and training in agriculture, livestock production, and natural resources that offer Masters of Science (M.Sc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees, as well as non-degree training exercises. The institute also offers extensive programmes in tropical agriculture, animal sciences, economics, social sciences and natural resources through research, educational and outreach work they developed in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries.
The internship is expected to enhance the participants’ technical capabilities and improve their performance and motivation as GLDA research and extension officers.
The programme consists of six modules and three field visits, combining theoretical and practical sessions, interactions with researchers, and field visits to research projects and farms.
The staffers who are benefiting from the exercise are Colvin Alfred, Jamila Bisram, Rondel Cameron, Paul Chase, Abiola Douglas, Norbert Felix, Wilton Fordyce, Denel Hamilton, Teressa Jacobs, Roxanne Langevine, David Pusselwythe and Yannick Roberts.
