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Chapter 5
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Rebuilding Human and Institutional
Capacities
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Rarely have so many opportunities and dangers
been bound up in a single
moment ... Lasting peace and security depend on development
that eliminates
great disparities and great hardships, that binds societies
together,
and offers hope for the future.
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-James Gustave Speth,
UNDP, 1994
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| Human capacities
take time to build, but the need for skilled agriculturalists
is even more urgent in the aftermath of disasters or conflicts.
In crises situations caused by conflict and natural disasters,
the Centers realized that they needed to quickly re-establish
capacities all the way to the farmer level, working |
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with the private, NGO, and government sectors. They had to help
save and restore local knowledge, and ensure that knowledge
flows did not bypass women and refugees. They had to keep a
continuous focus on the immediate bottom line—increasing
food security—while also investing in people and institutions
for the longer term. |
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| Restoring
the knowledge and expertise base |
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| Rwanda |
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| Tragically,
the majority of scientists and technicians working in Rwanda's
national agricultural research organization, ISAR (Institut
des Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda), were either killed or
forced to flee the country during its genocide and civil war
in 1994. A large numbers of women were left on their own as
heads of households, responsible for all the traditional chores--raising
children, fetching firewood, cooking--and now, the entire spectrum
of farming as well. |
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| Rebuilding
Rwanda’s potato research capacity. Photo: CIP |
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