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Improving the relevance of formal education and training in preparing international students as change agents for low-input agriculture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Kristin Cashman  and
Edgar Persons
Kristin Cashman
Affiliation:
A Graduate Student and Research Assistant for the Center for Indigenous Knowledge for Agriculture and Rural Development (CIKARD), Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
Edgar Persons
Affiliation:
Division Head, Agricultural Education, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108.
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Abstract

The frequent assumption that there are relevant and meaningful parallels between agriculture in the U.S. and in Less Industrialized Countries (LICs) is critically examined. Based on the results of a survey of LIC students enrolled in the College of Agriculture at the University of Minnesota, recommendations are made to more carefully focus the approach and direction of LIC student eduction. We conclude that the education and training of agriculturalists in U.S. institutions of higher learning does not relate sufficiently to the resource base and domestic needs of farming cultures in the LIC countries. A case is made for the benefit of practical experience through work with farmers whose practices and applications accommodate and reflect the realities of low-input farming practices in the LICs. Appropriate paralleled farming systems in the U.S. are typified as “organic,” “biological,” “regenerative,” or “sustainable,” and LIC students could be given experience on these farms as a part of their degree program in school.

Keywords

Foreign studentsUniversity of Minnesotaless-industrialized countries (LICs)agricultural technologyorganic farmingsustainable agriculture
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Winter 1988 , pp. 35 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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