Workshop on Green Jobs, ILO

 In 2010, Mauritius requested the ILO’s assistance to further improve its development strategy Maurice Ile
Durable. In this context, the Green Jobs Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, the Employers Federation (MEF) and the Private Sector Union Confederation (CTSP) has started providing support for assessing and optimizing the employment impact of the new concept. Research and awareness raising go hand in hand with capacity building.


Four studies will be conducted by national consultants. One study will consist of a quantitative assessment to
estimate the number of existing jobs and the potential for green jobs in a “Maurice Ile Durable” scenario. A
second study, led by the MEF, will assess actions undertaken by enterprises in the field of green business and greening business. A third study, led by the CTSP, will assess the experience of trade unions in the field of green jobs. Finally, a fourth study will investigate into skills for green jobs. The findings are expected to inform the policy process, the implementation strategy and the ten-year action plan programming taking place in early 2012. A policy validation and planning workshop on ‘Green Jobs in Maurice Ile Durable’ will be held in January 2012

 Mrs Roshini Brizmohun-Gopaul, Lecture in Agricultural Economics attended the workshop organized by the Ministry of Labour in collaboration with the International Labour Office (ILO). Different economic actors participated in the workshop.The Minister Shakeel Mohamed, stated that creation of Green Jobs is important as it will protect the environment, which will not increase the content of carbon in the atmosphere and will offer in the wake a decent job with good wages while generating a profit for entrepreneurs. However we need to keep a close eye on the business community. If we ask a businessman to create jobs which protect the environment, it will ask first what his profit margin. We're fooling ourselves if we believe it will go ahead with this project only because he loves the environment. Employees also will ask questions about their new conditions of employment ... "

Latest notification of the online magazine, New Agriculturist

The latest edition of New Agriculturist (2012-1) is now online at www.new-ag.info. Keeping track of our changing environment and humanity's impact and dependence on natural cycles is a key theme of this edition. A new year also heralds new beginnings as New Agriculturist launches two new sections, supported by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR).

Joint Africa - EU Strategy Tuning Project

Tuning AFRICA project


A call for participation in the “Harmonisation and Tuning African Higher Education” was launched in October 2011. In November 2011, a selection workshop was held in Dakar followed by a conference on ‘Tuning, Credits, Learning Outcomes and Quality: A Contribution to Harmonisation and the Space for Higher Education in Africa” attended by stakeholders including the African Union Commission (AUC), the European Commission, the Association of African Universities (AAU), the Conseil Africain et Malgache pour l’Enseignement Supérieur (CAMES), the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the Council on Higher Education, South Africa (CHE), the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), national quality assurance agencies such as the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and national ministries. This selection workshop screened 96 applications and 60 universities were finally selected, including the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius.

Participants from Nigeria, Senegal and Mauritius

The UoM - FoA has been selected for the Project after a successful application to participate in the TUNING-Africa Project. Mr K.Boodhoo, the coordinator of the project at the Faculty, attended the first meeting of the Joint Africa _EU Strategy Tuning Project in Yaoundé, Cameroon on the 23- 25 January 2012. In this first meeting participants were introduced to the Tuning concepts used in other countries and for 2 days brain storming session were held to develop generic and specific competences for an undergraduate programme in agricultural science.

TUNING-Africa is a collaborative process, involving academics working with potential employers and other stakeholders, in curriculum development to enhance student competences. The project, which has already been successfully implemented in Europe and Latin America, aims at improving staff capacity to design and develop curricula.

 The Way Forward 

The Tuning Higher Education in Africa pilot project is expected to be a consultative process that will foster discourse at grassroots level across borders through a number of regional seminars and conferences. These will provide the platform of dialogue for quality assurance, improvement of teaching and learning, and assessment. As the dialogue on credits and a common credit system is one of the central pillars of the Tuning approach, the pilot project might also advance the discourse towards an African Credit System.

The success of the pilot project will depend on the involvement of a critical mass of universities and stakeholders, sustained resources, well organized dissemination, as well as transparent and credible leadership. The direct linkage and integration of the Tuning pilot project into existing quality assurance initiatives – including regional and national qualification frameworks – is expected to contribute to a sustainable, institutionalized and harmonized reform.

The EU Tuning project team will send out a consolidated list of generic and subject specific competences to all participating institutions. We will have to validate them through a survey and meetings with our key stakeholders, alumni, academics and current final year students. It is expected to survey about 50 respondents in each category and it is expected to start in Mid February and end in March 2012. The responses will be analysed by the project team.  We fully rely on your close collaboration to make this initiative a success.

Futher information is downloadable at www.tuningafrica.org

VISIT AT CENTRAL FOOD TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Mrs Esha Aumjaud with some key staff of the CFTRI caption

Mrs Esha Aumjaud, academic staff in the Food Science and Technology unit of the Agricultural and Food Science was at the at the CFTRI in Mysore, India under the TEC/UGC 5th Agreement. She was attached at the Sensory Science Department, CFTRI in December 2011. In a presentation on her scientific visit, she explained how her research experience at this institute has been enriching, productive, enjoyable and memorable. She has shown us a few of the latest equipment that are currently being used in this area of study. She had the opportunity to attend the 5th International Conference on Fermented Foods: Health Status and Social Well-being, organised by SASNET (South Asian Swedish Network on Fermented Foods) in collaboration with AFSTI and CFTRI, on 15th and 16th December 2011. Last but not least she entertained the audience on the cultural aspects of this magnificent MYSORE city. She may be contacted for fruther details.

State of Art - Library at the Institute











Staff at the Institute

Mauritius International Knowledge Investment Forum 2012

Mr K.Boodhoo, attended a one-day 'Mauritius International Knowledge Investment Forum 2012' (MIKIF) with focus on the latest trends, developments and investment opportunities in higher education in Mauritius, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava on the 30th January 2012. It was organised by the Board of Investment in collaboration with the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology.

The MIKIF aims at showcasing the various investment opportunities that Mauritius offers to the global education community by creating the most appropriate environment and encouraging investment in the education sector. In addition the forum is serving as a platform for the participants to discuss on opportunities and challenges in the sphere of higher education.

In his opening speech, the Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology, Dr Rajeshwar Jeetah, said that Mauritius has crafted its reputation as a reliable and trusted provider of quality education and has transformed itself into a leading knowledge hub. He added, the country has also attracted prestigious academic institutions and universities in Mauritius. He also explained his vision of having one graduate in every family, increasing access to education, the construction of three additional campuses in Mauritius and attract foreign students. The main objective of his Ministry is to improve the tertiary gross intake ratio (locally) from 46% to 72% by 2012 and attract 100,000 foreign students in Mauritius 2020. He reaffirmed its determination to make education a new pillar of the economy. He also pointed that Mauritius is heading towards an innovation-driven economy with a focus on quality education and is laying the foundations of the knowledge hub of Mauritius. He highlighted that student visa and part-time work for foreign students is being facilitated to attract more foreign students.

The key themes that were addressed during the forum are; internationalisation of higher education, case studies on mobility of international students, the growing needs for specialised infrastructure for higher education and meeting the rising industry needs for higher education in Mauritius and regionally and the need for specialized infrastructure for higher education.

The guest speaker, Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Manag­ing Director of Dubai International Academic City, detailed how diversification of the economy and investment in the education sector, enabled Dubai to develop an education cluster. He also added that government support is of ut­most importance to enable Mauritius emerge as a knowl­edge hub. The example he provided could be a model of development for higher education hub in Mauritius.

The Chairman of the BOI, Mr. Maurice Lam emphasized that in today`s global world, there should be no barriers to access higher education. He also added that Mauritius should seize the opportunities in the education sector so that it becomes an engine for development and to export knowledge services. Further details on the various speakers’ presentations can be accessed at www.mikif.com

The event saw the participation of speakers from the world`s leading universities, business professionals, policy-makers and potential investors from different parts of the world namely France, UK, Australia, India, Singapore, South Africa, and Dubai. More than 300 delegates from various countries across the world attended the event. They were mainly from university academia, decision makers and investors from the education sectors, innovator CEOs interested in strategic alliances, executives from leading corporates, decision makers from the financial services, business professionals and government representatives.

Mauritius has now set the pace to add another pillar to its economy. A knowledge hub.

Workshop on Climate Smart Agriculture

The Faculty in joint collaboration with the FAO, organised a training Workshop on Climate Smart Agriculture Policy and Carbon Balance Appraisal of Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use Projects and Policies from 18-20 Jan 2012. It was attended by participants from our local institutions and from overseas (Madagascar and Seychelles). Mrs L Tegmo-Reddy (UN Representative), the Pro-Chancellor (Prof S Jugessur) and the Honourable Minister R Jeetah addressed the participants at the opening ceremony. The resource persons from the FAO are: Ms M Jonsson; Ms O Touchemoulin and Mr L Bockel.The participants was trained in the use of the EX-ACT (EX-ante Appraisal Carbon-balance), a tool developed by the FAO, aimed at providing ex-ante estimations of the impact of agriculture and forestry development on greenhouse gas emissions and C sequestration. The Training Workshop aims at capacity building of countries in the region in climate proofing of agriculture
and forestry sectors. This is of particular importance in Government’s efforts to build national capacity to respond to the climate change challenge.More info can be accessed at EX-ACT website.