Asian Clusters in Agriculture and Climate Change

ongoing

ALIGNING aims to promote agricultural innovation in Asia by increasing, first, the innovation capacity of 5 HEIs in Cambodia and Bangladesh, two least-developed agrarian countries confronted with the effects of climate change, and, second, by providing farmers and agribusiness practitioners solutions for a more sustainable and climate-resilient business growth. The project will produce the following key results: • 5 institutional strategies that will guide the establishment of the clusters in the partner Asian HEIs, defining among other their governance rules, the pedagogical and digital approaches for the new training programs, the type of capacity building activities and services that will take place under the auspices of the clusters. • At least 5 online capacity building workshops and study visits for academic and administrative staff members of 5 Asian HEIs to modernise their governance and enhance the quality of their curricula. • 5 fully operational innovative clusters in agriculture and climate change based in 5 Asian HEIs (3 in Cambodia and 2 in Bangladesh). • An instructional and development methodology for the for the development of the two online training programs relating to agriculture and climate change. • 1 online professional program in the areas of agribusiness management and climate smart agriculture available in Khmer and Bengali. • 8 blended learning academic courses in the areas of climate change & food security, climate adaption & mitigation in agriculture, agribusiness management, climate finance available in Khmer and Bengali. • An active Community of Practice in each country consisting of Academic staff, Agribusiness practitioners, HEI management units, agribusinesses & start-up incubators, national and regional policy makers in that will participate in the activities of the clusters and guarantee their sustainability. • An Innovation and Transferability plan that will guarantee the continuation of the clusters after the project has eneded.