The FAO is implementing a project entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar (SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project promotes climate smart agriculture (CSA) policies and practices at different levels in Myanmar.
One of the key activities of the project is to establish a national CSA/SLM training program mainstreaming CSA/SLM in the agriculture-related academic courses and training conducted by Yezin Agricultural University (YAU), State Agricultural Institutes (SAI), Department of Agriculture (DoA) and Department of Agriculture Research (DAR). In order to integrate CSA within the research, extension, training and development programs, the project has made efforts to revise/develop the curricula integrating CSA topics for example: i) CSA component integrated into the Masters and Bachelor level courses on Agriculture at YAU; ii) CSA component integrated into the Diploma in Agriculture course at SAIs; iii) one month training on CSA together with other subjects for the in-service or refresher course at Central Agriculture Research and Training Centre (CARTC) under DoA and iv) one week intensive Training of Trainers (ToT) programme aiming for the researchers, extension agents and teachers of DoA, DAR and YAU. Similarly, the project has also developed a CSA Handbook both in Myanmar and English versions with support from AVSI Foundation as a Service Provider. This handbook is intended to serve as a main reference/resource book for the researchers, extension agents, professors/lecturers/teachers and farmers to learn and teach CSA in Myanmar.