5.4.3 Education and agricultural extension services
The promotion of education abroad, or indeed in the universities of LAC, is producing highly qualified personnel, but they are not necessarily equipped to address the problems of mega-diversity in agriculture, because their training may not pay much attention to the sustainable management of biodiversity or the care of genetic resources. Moreover, available infrastructure and human capital have been focused on boosting yields and production volumes, under an output- and export-oriented agricultural model.

The “demographic bonus”42 is an advantage for countries of the region if they invest in human capital through education and scientific and technological development, in order to alleviate hunger and poverty. Yet because of heavy migration, the benefits of this “bonus” in coming decades could accrue to the countries that offer employment, which would lead to the loss of local talent and knowledge. One interesting proposal is to amend the study plans and programs in the agriculture professions to give priority to teaching agroecology. A government presence is justified in this field, when it is recognized that the knowledge involved must not be restricted to the kind sponsored by multinational companies that sell seeds, agrochemicals and farm machinery.

University training in agroecology needs to be strengthened through:

1. 1. A holistic and interdisciplinary vision
2. Breaking down the walls between departments and faculties, so as to deal with such issues as:
   – Climate-soil-plant relationships;
   – Farming-livestock-forestry-fishing relationships;
   – Agroforestry, community woodlots;
   – Fertility management;
   – Systems analysis.
3. Allowing students to gain practical experience in the field.
4. Integrating scientific knowledge with peasant knowhow in ethno-botany (knowledge of Amazon plants and ecosystems), household remedies, ways of organizing time and space, and the indigenous worldview. One way of restoring and capitalizing on peasant knowledge is to sift through it with the scientific knowledge at our disposal and subject it to reciprocal questioning. Participation by the rural poor in the design of projects will promote greater integration of traditional and scientific knowledge.

A necessary condition for achieving this is to integrate the university into its region and involve it in resolving producers’ problems through coordination and cooperation with regional and local governments. In effect, AKST can be
geared to small-scale producers and marginal rural sectors through reliance on a tripod of (1) publicly funded research, (2) public and private universities, and (3) networks of NGOs and other civil society players, including representatives of farmers, associations and unions.

The inequality of opportunities in education is a key element in perpetuating poverty, which impacts most heav-

42 Population of productive age

   ily on children (Herrera, 2002). Considering the scant opportunities for primary and secondary education in rural areas, particularly for women, (1) greater emphasis should be placed on technical education that will meet a real labor need (securing value added for products, helping local governments to formulate development projects); these technical institutes are now supported by churches or by universities, (2) continuous education should be encouraged (from basic literacy through to specialized training). One measure that has proven to be effective in rescuing biodiversity and agrobiodiversity is to encourage self-training through the organization of agricultural fairs and competitions with prizes. If such initiatives could be generalized in networks this would help to collect and preserve the diversity of local seed populations (Raven, 2003). More generally, thought should be given to providing small farmers with opportunities to study new techniques, in accounting and marketing for example, in the course of their farming activity.

There are some new topics that should be included or pursued in specialized training curricula: (1) protection of genetic resources, bio-piracy, legal provisions and intellectual property; (2) food quality, standards, food labeling, guarantees for organic products, marks of origin for foods.

It is hard for producers, even if they have formed an association, to shoulder the costs of certification and traceability. Public support could be provided for this aspect in the form of loans.

AKST policies should develop a diversity of technological innovations, since the problems to be addressed are varied and are not all susceptible to the same response (FAO, 2004ab). More government spending on research and development and on agricultural extension services should be considered.

Innovation policies need to take account of cultural aspects. It has been documented that culture can influence or alter development policies that appear adequate without falling into the kind of cultural determinism that could lead to isolation and immobility (Sen, 2004).

Countries can be classed in three groups with respect to their AKST systems. The countries that are the biggest producers and exporters of food in the region, such as Argentina and Brazil, have maintained a public system of research and agricultural extension services, and Brazil in fact has a government research institute of international renown, EMBRAPA. Achievements in Mexico are more modest.

The Andean countries have abandoned their national research institutes under pressure from the IDB and the World Bank. They are left with very little possibility to pursue their own research on national genetic resources, in order to strengthen their food independence. In fact, much of the genetic research is being done outside the countries that are the centers of origin of germplasm. Among these two groups, other countries including Chile have privatized their research in important areas such as fruit, fish and lumber exports, with generally negative consequences for AKST objectives. In light of the results described in Chapter 2, policies should seek to foster creativity and to strengthen institutions, using public funds to encourage the emergence of technical assistance networks that involve local stakeholders, both public and private.