Project News

A year has passed since the Project really started, and the activities of the 7 farmer groups organized by the Project are beginning to take concrete form.  However, the emphasis we have given to daily activities has not allowed us enough time to deeply discuss among our Project team the Project's orientation or the problematic issues that arise.

Therefore, we rented a meeting room for the entire day of November 14, 2007 and held an internal workshop with all the Project staff, including the 3 Japanese experts, the Project coordinator and secretary.  (The chart below shows the themes of discussion of the workshop.)  Before the workshop, I was somewhat skeptical if the discussions would really be productive, but once it began, all the members actively participated, making positive contributions in each discussion topic.  As a result, the workshop provided an effective forum for the exchange of information on existing problems and a guideline for their solution.

Our discussions were so involved that we went over the timeframe by an hour and did not reach theme no. 11 on the program.  Even so, the counterparts' opinion was that the workshop was "very constructive" and that we should continue to hold them periodically.

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Themes of Discussion for the Internal Workshop to Establish an Extension System for Alhajuela Project
8:00 1. Opening address
8:10 2. Explanation of the themes of discussion for the day
8:15 3. The goals that ANAM should achieve
8:30 4. Confirmation of the Project's Purpose and Results from the perspective of the PDM
9:00 5. The limits of the Project's object area and the conditions for selecting the communities where activities will be carried out.
9:30 6. The orientation of activities on group farms from the perspective of the Project's Results, especially in relationship to the "farmland use plan", "reforestation" and "marketing".
10:00–10:15 Refreshment break
10:15 7. Analysis of persons and organizations related to the "extension system".
11:15 8. The training course necessary for the "extension system".
12:00–13:00 Lunch
13:00 9. The contents the "Extension Guidebook" should have.
14:00 10. Review of the "indicators and means of verification" in the PDM
15:00–15:15 Refreshment break
15:15 11. Other themes (from each component)
16:00 12. Closing address
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(Mr. Isao SAKAI, Chief Advisor / Rural Development)