Transforming agri-food systems in Cambodia through strengthening research capacity

Project goal:

The main objective of the project is to increase the capacity of students and academics in agri-food systems, value chains and soft skills, focusing on the potential of linking secondary and tertiary education, which is one of the priorities of the strategy of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in Cambodia. According to the Czech Republic's Bilateral Cooperation Programme for Cambodia (2018-2023), increasing the knowledge and connectivity of secondary school graduates and the subsequent employment of university graduates in the labour market, thereby improving employment levels, is one of the main critical factors in the field of higher education. At the same time, the capacity gap between secondary and tertiary education affects the supply of students for post-secondary studies.

Within the framework of this project, the cooperation will take place mainly with two faculties of RUA, namely "Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development" and "Faculty of Agro Industry".

The main objective of the project is to support the transformation of agri-food systems by strengthening research capacities at RUA. The project will focus on three areas of capacity enhancement:

• (i) enhancing student competencies through the promotion of participatory methods in teaching and research activities,
• (ii) linking secondary and higher education in relation to labour market requirements,
• (iii) organising and promoting joint research activities. The project builds on the long-standing cooperation between the experts from the CZU and the RUA and focuses on the current needs of the RUA.

As part of this output, activities will be focused on increasing the competences of RUA students in the field of communication skills in cooperation with the labour market by introducing the Effective Communication Skills course into teaching at RUA. At the same time, thanks to participation in the Summer School "Agro-food systems towards green technologies and self-sufficiency", the students will increase their competences in the field of scientific and research activities. The second activity will aim to train approximately 15 students as part of the Summer School through a combination of theoretical and practical teaching. The participants of the course will improve their theoretical knowledge in the field of food production, and at the same time they will gain practical experience directly from the field, they will participate in group work, they will learn to solve current issues of value chains (i.e., from producers to consumers) and they will improve their transversal skills (e.g. communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking).

• Activity 1.1 Syllabus preparation and implementation of the Effective Communication Skills course
• Activity 1.2 Preparation of the summer school program "Agro-food systems towards green technologies and self-sufficiency"
• Activity 1.3 Organization of the summer school "Agro-food systems towards green technologies and self-sufficiency"

The representatives of the RUA and the Vice-Chancellor stated at the meeting that they are very interested in connecting the university with secondary schools and thereby obtaining more high-quality applicants for studies. Therefore, as part of this output, there will be activities that will support cooperation between the secondary and higher education sectors.

• Activity 2.1. Establishing a platform for cooperation between secondary schools and the university
• Activity 2.2 Organization of Science day – study trips of secondary school students to the university

As part of this output, emphasis will be placed on the promotion of RUA's scientific research activities during an international scientific conference focused on innovations and challenges in the field of agro-food systems. Subsequently, a panel discussion will be organized with representatives of individual interested actors (i.e. agricultural producers, sellers, cooperatives or consumers). An integral part of the project is also the promotion of government scholarships that RUA students can use. Last but not least, project activities include the promotion of both the entire project and its partial activities and outputs. 

• Activity 3.1 Organization of the international conference Agri-food systems: innovations and challenges
• Activity 3.2 Panel discussion Perspectives of Agri-food systems transformation
• Activity 3.3 Promotion of project activities and outputs
• Activity 3.4 Promotion of government scholarships for students from Cambodia including international scholarships