Blended Intensive Training on:

Sustainability and health aspects in the development of selected value-chains of the agri-food sector in Ethiopia

Premise

The Blended Intensive Training will provide integrated training on the role of agri-food sector in developing countries, the role of innovation and entrepreneurship as well as food safety and animal health aspects for the development of global value chain. It will be structured with a series of online sessions in December 2023, followed by a week of in-person training in Ethiopia in January 2024.

The Program targets professionals already working in the animal products value-chains, besides doctoral students and young researchers interested in developing innovative actions in the main agri-food value-chains in Sub-Saharian Africa, with special attention to the Ethiopian context.

The Program will be developed building on the long-term relationship between the Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health of the University of Padova (UNIPD) and the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture of the Addis Ababa University (CVMA-AAU) in the field of the animal production and health, further enriched by the strong competence in supply chain management, economics in developing countries of the Politechnic University of Milano (POLIMI) and its School of Management (with a core role of the Food Sustainability Lab).

Topics of the training

The Program will cover the following topics:

Sanitary aspects of the animal products value-chains
The role of the agri-food sector in global value chains
Key strategic drivers and sustainability-oriented innovations in the agri-food sector

These transversal topics will be applied to three value-chains

Ruminant meat production
Poultry production
Dairy production

Learning objectives

At the end of the training, participants will be able to:

Constitute and/or consolidate specific knowledge around sustainability and sanitary aspects of agri-food value-chains at global and local level;
Understand how to promote innovative actions in selected value-chains in order to accelerate socio-economic improvements;
Apply selected tools (e.g., Risk assessment; Business innovation canvas and stakeholders’ assessment) for the analysis and evaluation of the appropriateness of innovations in the agri-food sector.

Key data

Official name	*Sustainability and health aspects in the development of selected value-chains of the agri-food sector in Ethiopia*
Academic Year	2023-2024
Lead organizers	Politechnic University of Milano (POLIMI); University of Padova (UNIPD)
Coordinator	Prof. Federica Ciccullo (POLIMI)
Other coordinating teachers	Prof. Paola Garrone (POLIMI) Prof. Lucia Piscitello (POLIMI) Dr. Sandra Cesari de Maria (POLIMI) Prof. Rudi Cassini (UNIPD) Prof. Michele Drigo (UNIPD) Prof. Leonardo Nanni Costa (UNIBO) Prof. Hika Waktole (CVMA-AAU) Prof. Gezahegne Mamo (CVMA-AAU) Prof. Hagos Ashenafi (ALIPB-AAU)
Local Implementation partner	Addis Abeba University – Agrarian college
Topics of the Program	• Sanitary aspects of the animal products value-chains • The role of the agri-food sector in global value chains • Key strategic drivers and sustainability-oriented innovations in the agri-food sector These transversal topics will be applied to three value-chains · Ruminant meat production · Poultry production · Dairy production
Duration and period of the training	Online part: 2-3 hours per day, generally on Thursdays and Fridays, starting from the 14^th of December (12 hours in total) In-person part: from the 22^th to the 26^th of January 2024 including two half-day field visits
Minimum number of participants	10
Maximum number of participants	20
Language requirements	English B2 or equivalent
Teaching language	English
Final evaluation	Presentations of project work activities
Evaluation of the quality of the Blended Intensive Training Program by the trainees	By questionnaire in the last day of the Training Program