CONDESAN Initiative - SAEC-DE

Strengthening Agricultural and Environmental Capacity through Distance Education

Contacts

CIAT/CONDESAN and UF/IFAS are collaborating on the valuation and payment for environmental services (PES) in the Andes region. UF/IFAS is adding a soil component to CIAT’s ongoing research. Long-term efforts are needed on innovative R&D approaches aimed at strengthening local capacity in the Andean region to value the provision of Environmental Services and to develop a framework that allow rural communities to benefit from the payment from ES.

There is demand from regional governments, local authorities and national and local institutions and stakeholders to gain capability to engage in these and similar themes. The collaboration of UF combines the education of students from local institutions through the Distance Education M.S. program at University of Florida and involvement in selected soil research related to the valuation of environmental services. The UF role is a supportive one to the ongoing, quality research program already in place. The students will come from institutions that are already part of the CONDESAN Consortium and therefore, their involvement in research projects on PES will strengthen the capacity of local institutions. 

Activities

In this collaborative relationship with CONDESAN, an international distance education student from Cali, Colombia, is enrolled in a M.S. program in the Soil and Water Science Department. 

Ms. Marcela Quintero works at CIAT in Cali and is associated with the CIAT/CONDESAN project in Colombia.