Food and Agricultural Trade in Africa

Begins:Apr 30, 2007 09:00
Ends:  Jun 01, 2007 17:00
 
Course Summary and Objectives
Agricultural trade is undoubtedly the single most important link between trade and poverty in Sub Saharan Africa, where farming accounts for more than two thirds of total employment and constitutes the main income source for the vast majority of the poor. In that context, the E-Learning Course: Food and Agricultural Trade in Africa fleshes out the key issues that are of special interest to African decision-makers and discusses the strategic agricultural trade issues associated with poverty reduction which are increasingly gaining interest in the region.

The main purpose of this 5-week E-learning Course is to strengthen the capacity of African policy makers, senior officials, advisors, and analysts to:understand the implications of recent trends and developments in agricultural trade flows, recent global market developments and how they can contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction;understand and effectively participate in international (bilateral, regional, or multilateral) agricultural trade negotiations; and;design and formulate efficient unilateral domestic trade policies in the face of the challenges and opportunities presented by the developments in the international food and agricultural markets.

Course Outline
The E-learning Course on Food and Agricultural Trade in Africa will take place over a five-week period (April 30 to June 01, 2007) and include 5 modules covering several important topics.

The modules for this course are:

Course Structure and Organization
Each module consists of one or two mandatory readings, accompanied by a number of PowerPoint presentations and recommended readings that will provide more in-depth treatment of each topic.

The course will take place during 5 weeks. Participants will be expected to read the course materials at the beginning of the week. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of each week there will be an online discussion (not in real time) among participants guided by that week’s resource persons.

To successfully complete the course and receive a certificate of course completion from the WBI, each participant is required to (i) review the mandatory materials, (ii) connect several times each week to participate actively in the online discussion (1-2 messages in "most" weeks/modules).