A Comprehensive Training in Sustainable Agriculture

A Comprehensive Training in Sustainable Agriculture

Summary

Summary
This project is developing skills and tools for sustainable agriculture leaders in several regions in the Northeast. As a result, the leaders will be better equipped to engage farmers, colleagues and community members in holistic approaches to the challenges and opportunities that face agriculture.

Objectives
1. Increase knowledge and understanding about sustainable agriculture systems.

2. Identify and adapt educational and management tools and techniques that can be used by the agency personnel and farmers.

3. Increase leadership capacity and produce stronger networks.

Results to Date
Five regional teams have formed and leaders have developed a list of outcomes for the project.

Teams have developed projects that address topics relevant to their own regions.

Surveys were created to assess the information needs of those participating in the project and to assess the participants’ current level of understanding of sustainable agriculture and the specific tools that this project is focusing on.

Methods
Originally, we had planned to work intensively with a group of ten to twenty Cooperative Extension and NRCS personnel from Vermont and New York to broaden their appreciation and enhance their understanding of the philosophy, scientific principles, and practical application of sustainable agriculture. This training would serve client interests and help lay the groundwork for a future farming and food system that is profitable, environmentally sound, and socially just.

After the original proposal was submitted, the Northeast SARE administrative council asked that the project be expanded regionally. Therefore, the project now includes five teams of eight to ten from around the Northeast.

The first task was for the team leaders and the organizing committee to develop a list of outcomes, which have guided us through the development of the training activities. The teams then put together preliminary plans for projects that addressed topics relevant to their own regions as well as the overall goals of the comprehensive training.

A comprehensive classroom training took place in January of 1999 in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The event addressed each of the outcome areas, and participants learned about approaches like whole-farm planning or participatory education. These are tools they can bring to their own regional team projects, and be integrated in all their work with farmers that addresses sustainability.

After the January training, teams will implement their own regional projects. Comprehensive training funds of $4,000 per team per year are allocated to support regional activities. At the end of the two years, in the spring of 2000, the whole group will meet again to discuss how well the project has achieved its outcomes.

Reported December, 1998. 1999 Northeast Region SARE/ACE Report.

Collaborators: