Objectives
The primary purpose of the partnership between MSU and UACH is to enhance the capacity of UACH to promote sustainable livelihood and equitable development in poor and marginal rural communities of Mexico. The strength of the partnership is embedded in the expertise and knowledge of their faculty and students to create alternative models of production, value-added agriculture, and in developing alternative marketing strategies. A secondary purpose is to strengthen UACH academic, research and outreach programs providing formal graduate education at the master and PhD degree levels and engaging students and faculty in a variety of short-term training in Mexico and the US, incorporating applied research as an important component in the program's objectives.
This proposal addresses six objectives:
(1) empower UACH faculty in eight Mexican states to promote extension and outreach program in poor rural communities using the MSU expertise on sustainable agriculture, value-added agriculture, and marketing strategies;
(2) enhance the educational capacity and expertise of three UACH graduate programs (national programs of excellence) using a multidisciplinary and binational comprehensive approach;
(3) foster a steady exchange of knowledge and skills between MSU and UACH faculty that strengthens each institution's role on sustainable food and farming systems;
(4) build a sustainable linkage between MSU and UACH faculty through applied research focusing on current challenges of small and subsistence farmers in both US and Mexican rural communities;
(5) offer a global vision on the agriculture to a new generation of students with rural and indigenous background who can promote sustainable livelihood and equitable development in their own communities;
(6) create a Binational Virtual Center address to encourage and support sustainable food systems, value-added agriculture, and new marketing strategies which facilitates a binational dialogue between researchers and agricultural institutions.