Free online course teaches agricultural resilience

A brand new online course on resilience in agriculture offers agricultural professionals from throughout the globe with cutting-edge insights into one of the vital important interdisciplinary subjects in crop enchancment.

The free course from the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement (ILCI) opens alternatives for scientists and agricultural improvement professionals to mix technical abilities with probably the most superior findings in social sciences. The “Resilience in Agriculture” course is considered one of 4 trainings that may present in-depth classes on 4 core cross-cutting themes: gender equality, youth engagement and vitamin safety.

The trainings are geared to scientists in National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) and ILCI’s Centers of Innovations in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Housed in ILCI’s newly launched multidisciplinary studying hub, the collection – as effectively extra programs in technical crop enchancment abilities, resembling genomics – is open to the general public for gratis.

The collection was proposed in response to COVID-19 journey restrictions, in line with Elisabeth Garner, ILCI’s cross-cutting themes co-lead and postdoctoral affiliate at Cornell University. “We decided to build an online curriculum to support our international network of partners since we couldn’t be there in person,” she mentioned. “The result is an opportunity to reach an even broader audience.”

The coaching module targeted on resilience in agriculture is now accessible. Created by ILCI companions at Cultural Practice, LLC, it offers an in-depth overview of the idea and software of resilience in agriculture for crop enchancment, in line with Deborah Rubin, co-director of Cultural Practice, LLC and cross-cutting themes co-lead at ILCI.

“These modules illustrate the connections between agricultural science and social science approaches,” Rubin mentioned. “By making that connection, we can achieve a better understanding of key consumer preferences to ultimately strengthen adoption of improved varieties.”

The online trainings permit learners to delve into the subjects at their very own tempo. The resilience coaching module is split into 4 hourlong periods, every aligned to 4 course studying goals. Featuring interactive studying workout routines, movies and in-depth tutorials, the online course allows the learner to know fundamental ideas, definitions, software and measurement of resilience in agriculture for crop enchancment, whereas additionally offering a possibility for reflection on their very own work.

“Resilience is a critical component of agriculture and crop improvement, but it doesn’t operate in isolation,” mentioned Sarah Eissler, senior analysis affiliate at Cultural Practice and lead curriculum developer for the resilience course. “The course looks at resilience in relation to cross-cutting themes of gender equality, nutrition security, and youth engagement.”

“At ILCI, we are dedicated to listening to our national partners and working with them to integrate tools, technologies and methods. Ultimately, we are all working together to make food more accessible, reliable, and responsive to diverse needs around the globe,” mentioned ILCI director Stephen Kresovich, professor in Cornell’s School of Integrative Plant Science. “This training series will prepare scientists to prioritize cross-cutting themes as they develop product breeding profiles.”

Based on the Department of Global Development within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement companions with scientists and stakeholders across the globe to co-develop instruments, applied sciences and strategies in crop enchancment that tackle native issues and deal with neighborhood influence.

Matt Hayes is director for communications for Global Development within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.