1. 16/11/2010
BUILDING PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY FOR
POVERTY REDUCTION
An overview of the PRAM Initiative – a professional education
program for agricultural development workers in Laos
The developmental context
The regional development challenges we face
and the context of poverty reduction efforts in
Laos
The challenges
Widespread poverty still
exists in Asian region despite
rapid economic growth
In some areas, levels of
poverty now increasing
UNICEF press release, 14 Sep 2010
“We found extremely high levels of
malnutrition among children .... . In Attapeu,
one of three southern provinces covered by
the survey, 18.9 per cent of children aged 6 to
59 months were found to suffer from acute
malnutrition. This figure is almost 4 per cent
above the international definition for an
emergency situation”.
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The opportunities
More attention being focused
on poverty reduction
Better understanding of
sustainable development
More sustainable food production
More sustainable energy
production
More sustainable economic
growth
The need to help people
change and adapt for a new
future
Prof. Yunus: “We must not leave the problem of poverty for the next generation to
solve”
Why is the situation getting worse?
Increased vulnerability
because of:
– Climate change
– Environmental
degradation
– Reduced food security
– Economic crisis, increasing
energy costs
Prof. Yunus: “In the future there will be museums of poverty”
Poverty in Laos
27% of population - less
than USD 1 / day
74% of population – less
than USD 2 / day
Agriculture: 41% of GDP,
80% of employment
National Growth and Poverty
Eradication Strategy
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3. 16/11/2010
Outline of the PRAM curriculum
PRAM: Poverty Reduction and Agricultural
Management – a capacity building program for
agricultural extension working in Laos
PRAM Goals
To make an immediate
and measurable impact
on poverty in southern
Laos
To build capacity of
local government
workers to reduce
poverty
Four strategic aims of the Lao Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry
Achieve food security for
the country
Assist communities to
develop agricultural
production for cash
Stabilize shifting cultivation
to alleviate poverty
Sustainably develop forests
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Approaching the challenge
Requires two approaches
Long term - gradual development of
existing systems of professional
training and education. Yield results
in 10 years+
Short-term – need new model for
professional development (capacity
building) that will help MAF respond
to urgent national problems.
The immediate demand
Greater effectiveness of
district level government
officers
3000 in seven southern
provinces alone
Urgent need to reduce rapid
destruction of natural
environment (deforestation,
dam construction)
Urgent need to mitigate
impact of negative
environmental changes
The immediate demand
Students: mid-career district level extension
officers with high school or vocational
qualifications
linked to official Ministry systems of staff
promotion
Courses taught near workplace four week
blocks, after which students return to their
stations
Project-based learning, Problem-based
leaning key for addressing linkages between
environment and poverty reduction
“Fitness for Purpose” approach to quality
assurance
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PRAM Components
A MAF perspective
Theory
Skill building
Community
assignments
The developing focus of capacity building for
poverty alleviation
What do Districts
HRD emphasis officers need to
in the past know?
Knowledge-
based courses
What do
HRD emphasis District
in the future officers need
to do?
Work-based
courses
What do District officer need?
PRAM
Good skills
+
Building competence Assessment
Good knowledge
+
Good staff
Good attitude for poverty
reduction
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Key attributes
Reaching out to professionals – a degree
program that targets District agricultural
government extension officers from Southern
Laos.
Establishing regional standards –
developing transboundary collaboration and
establishing regional standards for
agricultural extension and professional
education for poverty reduction
Providing a choice - of what, when and
where they study. All students study part-time
Increasing access to education – developing
a harmonized approach to agricultural
education, farmer extension and community
development.
Measuring “fitness for purpose” – students
are assessed on the basis of their ability to
reduce poverty in poor communities in the
Districts they work both during and after their
studies
Key attributes
Students can study courses at
any educational institutions
which is a member of the
PRAM Consortium
Consortium members follow
agreed norms and standards
established for PRAM course
delivery and assessment.
Key components of norms and
standards:
Problem-Based Learning
approach to teaching
Fitness for Purpose approach
to assessment
Curriculum structure
PRAM curriculum still being developed.
Alliance of educational institutions and
development agencies responsible for
developing curriculum agreed to three main
types of courses:
Orientation courses
Core courses
Elective courses
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7. 16/11/2010
PRAM curriculum structure outline
Composed of two Parts:
All students need to take these courses before they begin the Core
Orientation courses courses
(20 credits) Students mid-career professionals who have wide range of
backgrounds and professional experience
Full time study to “immerse” students in a learning environment
Compulsory courses for registered students
Core courses – Part-time study for students
(20 credits) – Practical assignments in workplace and community
– Basic competencies (knowledge + skills + attitude)
– General courses for poverty reduction and food security
Elective courses for registered and non-registered students
– Project based learning
Elective courses – Workplace teaching
(20 credits) – Impact on poverty required for course completion
Orientation course
Part 1 (9 credits)
Introduction to Agriculture
English language
Thai language
Computer skills
Introduction to Education
Part 2 (9 credits)
Science and Mathematics
Environment and Society
Communication Team Work and Facilitation
Basic Accounting
Core courses
Agricultural Communication
How to work with communities
Human relationships
Mediation skills
Negotiation skills
Facilitation skills
Health and Sanitation
Food security
International standards quarantine
Public health and sanitation
Notifiable diseases
Animal management for good health
Basic disease understanding and diagnosis
Agro-Ecology
Environmental management
Biodiversity
Conservation
Pollution control management
International conventions
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Core courses
Agricultural Management
Admin-management skills
Policy and planning
Planning methods
Proposal writing
Project management
Donor liaison
Natural Food Security
Basic food productivities skills
Food from natural recourses
Food security
Preservation
Post-harvest processing
Indigenous food knowledge
Poverty Mitigation
Dimension of poverty
Poverty causes
Poverty management
Inequalities
Poverty reduction policies
Gender
Core courses
Field Research Methods
Field research design
Statistics
Research with communities and farmers
Data analysis and presentation
Report writing
Data-Information management processing
Agricultural Extension
Extension approaches
Techniques
Rural leadership
Rural finances
Group formation
TOT teaching
PRAM Seminar
Students present seminar based on a subject
related to their work and poverty reduction.
Elective courses
Series of graded community
development projects (PbL)
Consortium able to provide a wide
range of courses – students select
according to job requirements.
Also available to district officers
without registering for the full degree
program
Students specialize in a subject area
(e.g. Animal Health, Fisheries).
Requirement to achieve measurable
poverty reduction outcomes
“Examiners” include farmers and poor
families
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Fitness for purpose
Developing a fitness for purpose approach to
professional education for poverty reduction
Measuring impact at the community level
Did this course lead to a
measurable reduction in
poverty?
A “fitness for purpose”
approach to education
Examples
Increased availability of nutrients in
diet
Increased knowledge for treating
goat health problems
New crops planted
New sources of protein (frogs,
insects) farmed
Quality Assurance Board
Comprising 2 – 3
members from all
stakeholders
Each PRAM course
delivery institution has
its own QA and
curriculum
development
committee
Two-way process
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PRAM poverty reduction framework
Lao National Poverty Eradication Strategy 2020 Goal
Poverty Reduction Fund responsibility
MAF responsibility (with other Ministries/agencies)
Improving Employment
Providing Basic Needs
livelihoods opportunities
Poorest Poor Not poor
Student indicators for learning success
Small but sustainable increases Families with an
in living standards of families income equivalent
Housing and
of >180,000 Kip
clothing within 47 poorest districts of Laos
per person per
Health and month
sanitation Schools and Measurable impacts on the
Food education livelihoods and well-being of Families impacted
security poor families beyond the by student
provision of their Basic Needs activities will NOT
Community be used to
participation Roads access and
Measurable changes that can be measure learning
and action communication independently verified by local success
communities and external
evaluators
The 6 Basic Needs
The 6 Basic Needs
Food security
Enough food for basic requirements
(2100KCal/person/day, importance of fat
in diet of young children to absorb
vitamins)
Enough food for entire year
Food supply not highly vulnerable
Importance of building resilience in food
supply to combat climate variation and
climate change
Importance of poor communities to recover
food supply quickly from external “shocks”
or disasters
Focus of PRAM student projects
The 6 Basic Needs
Health and sanitation
Access to clean and safe
water
Access to health care
services
Importance of
developing security to
health care service
access (ability to “pay”
for family health care
when there is a critical
need)
Health care “micro-
insurance” through
securing livestock health
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The 6 Basic Needs
Schools and education
Basic access to primary education
Includes ensuring effectiveness of
basic school education
Includes non-formal education
and training, access to new
information and learning to
ensure provision of Basic Needs
Includes effectiveness of
awareness raising and learning
to exploit new opportunities for
basic survival
The 6 Basic Needs
Housing and clothing
Ensuring families have basic
shelter and sufficient clothing all
year
Importance of improving
resilience to increasing climate
variation. Shelter less vulnerable
to flooding and storms
Importance of families having a
secure place to live
Importance of having basic
cooking and household equipment
The 6 Basic Needs
Roads, access and
communication
The importance of developing
reliable contact with the
“outside” to reduce
vulnerability
Includes basic access to buses
and having money to travel for
emergencies (e.g. health)
Developing effective access to
basic government services
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12. 16/11/2010
The 6 Basic Needs
Community participation and action
Ensuring ability to effectively
participate in development
Developing opportunities to be
innovative and creative (take small
risks for improvements)
Importance of ensuring communities
and individuals are able to take
responsibility for improvements
The importance of the capacity for
community mobilization and
organization
Most Significant Change Technique
MSC – participatory M&E
process:
Facilitates program
improvement throughout
program cycle
Provides data on impact and
outcomes.
A process of collecting
significant change stories from
the field - systematic selection
of the most significant by
higher levels – reflection on
change throughout all levels
MSC – Why Is It Useful?
Identifying unexpected
changes.
Identifying (important)
values that prevail in an
organisation
Encourages analysis as well
as data collection
Build staff capacity in analysing
data and conceptualising impact.
Deliver a rich picture of
what is happening.
Monitors and evaluates
bottom-up initiatives –
tracking the unexpected
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Collecting Significant Change Stories
Example of MSC story collection form
Selecting Significant Change Stories
Selecting Significant Change Stories
What do they do?
Everybody reads the stories
In-depth conversation about
which stories should be chosen
Decision which stories are felt
to be most significant
Reasons for the group’s
choice(s) are documented.
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Some lessons learned
An overview of the lessons learned by the PRAM
stakeholders over the last three years
The need for a local-level focus
Savannakhet University
DLF/MAF lead process, but
difficult to coordinate
Necessary for local
coordination (local university)
Local university issue degree
Need to focus at lowest level
of staff and poor areas
Poor districts
Jut Sum
Technical Service Centers
(TSC’s)
International partnerships
The Wetlands Alliance
AIT, CORIN-ASIA, WWF, World Fish
Role changed, need to accommodate change
Difficult to understand, complicated
Thai agencies
Local-local collaboration very effective
MoU useful for administration
Vocational vision very useful
Easy to find good lessons for students and
information
Language differences small (compared with
English)
Donor organizations
Flexibility and understanding from Sida
(supportive donor)
PRAM designed for easy donor support
International NGO approach different (project
approach)
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Facilitating partnerships
Important attributes
Ability to identify new opportunities
Neutrality, respected
Informed, but independent
Breaking with traditions
“Technical” inputs not required
Focus on establishing process not output
Curriculum content locally derived
Facilitation skills central importance:
partnership development
workplan development
monitoring (Quality Assurance)
goal/objective reinforcement
DLF perspective of PRAM institutional partnerships
National University of
Champasak Na Gair Agricultural Pakse Agricultural
Laos/Savannakhet
Provincial Authorities College College
University
Salavan Provincial
MAF Personnel
Authorities
National and Regional coordination Department
Attapue Provincial Savannakhet province Department of
Authorities WAP Provincial coordination for Vocational Education
Southern Laos
Xe Kong Provincial MAF Planning
Department
Northern province
Planned
Authorities
WAP Provincial coordination for
Department of
Kammouane Northern Laos Agronomy
Provincial Authorities
DLF Luang Prabang
Planned
Bolikhamsai WAP National coordination Provincial Authorities
Provincial Authorities
Xieng Kuang
Provincial Authorities
Savannakhet
Provincial Authorities International coordination
WAP Secretariat
Private Sector – CAAT MAF Bilateral donors
UDICAD
SEAFDEC World Bank/ADB
Supporting teaching development
Opportunities
to test and develop new approaches
re-evaluate learner needs
Project/Problem-based learning
appropriate for (MAF) professional
development
similar to development agency “capacity
building”
Developing confidence
Only one of the ways to do this
Key element for effective development
Importance underestimated
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Supporting QA development
The need for regional/international
certification/quality assurance
Jointly developing “fitness for purpose”
concept
Development of a Quality Assurance
Board (QAB)
Facilitating continuous quality
improvement
Merging “development” QA with
education QA
Exams, student assignments, academic
assesments
Logical Framework (OVI’s)
Most Significant Change (MSC)
Future directions and challenges
Some ideas for developing the PRAM initiative
and issues that need to be addressed for
scaling-up
Regional expansion
On-going dialogue to establish PRAM-
like programs in Philippines, East Timor,
Thailand, Burma and Vietnam
Cambodia
Fisheries administration (part of MAFF)
will:
Organize a national meeting to discuss how
to initiate PRAM in Cambodia
Open discussions with national universities to
develop collaboration of a PRAM initiative
Draft PRAM project proposal and invite
PRAM stakeholders from Laos to share ideas
and submit jointly to donors
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17. 16/11/2010
The challenge of learning from the past and each
other
How can students learn from past
students?
How can teachers learn from past
teachers?
How can we empower students, give
them the 'big' picture - that there are
others like them - how do you link
them?
The challenge of information and records
management
What is the best way to collect and manage the
assessment information coming from teachers and
students?
What is the best way to record and store
Significant Change Stories?
How can pictures and videos best be stored and
shared?
Where is the best place to keep student records?
Where do we keep records of meetings and
agreements on approach and methodology?
The challenge of communication
Teachers wish they had easier way to
contact students
How can communication be improved
teacher-teacher, student-student,
teacher-student?
Teachers were impressed by students
from different areas working together
on their projects
How can teachers get more real-time
information from the students?
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18. 16/11/2010
The opportunity to empower and motivate
A new innovative web-based platform for
agricultural extension officers to communicate,
share ideas and search for new information
would really excite people! How could this work?
How can we change the context in which the • Technical Service Centers
student's and teachers work? (community level development
centers) have Internet before
We can't change their budgets or their electricity
living/work conditions, but we can take them • Very close to seeing iPad
equivalents in Laos
'virtually' out of their environment and into a
• Almost everyone has a cell phone
context where they feel empowered and part with great coverage
of something big.
The value of real-time data
Melinda Gates - In development, the evaluation
comes at the very end of the project...by then it is
too late to use the data...I had somebody from an
NGO once describe it to me as bowling in the dark.
They said, "You roll the ball, you hear some pins go
down. It's dark, you can't see which one goes down
until the lights come on, and then you can see the
impact." Real time data turns on the lights.“
Lesson learned from Coke – They take real-
time data and immediately feed it back into the
product
A vision from Laos and Cambodia – “We
could see what is going on where and where the
gaps are. We could provide better focus and
coordination for the many donors who want to do
capacity building”
Thank you
nickudon@gmail.com
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