The first event of the Regional TC Project RAF5054 "Improvement of Livestock Productivity through an Integrated Application of Technologies" will be a regional training course on Participatory Approaches. Through this course, attending scientists will be trained in methods such as the Participatory Rural Appraisal and the Economic Opportunity Survey, which involve meeting and working with farmers to learn first-hand about their production systems, including agricultural, economic and social factors, and considering their interaction. Such activities will allow the scientist to identify and prioritize the constraints limiting farm productivity and develop practical strategies to overcome these constraints. The participating scientists will be expected to apply these approaches in their own projects. In addition, the participants will be trained in the use of various software for data collection and management and simple economic analysis.

The event was held from March 18 to 22, 2007 in Khartoum, Sudan. It will be hosted by the Department of Radioisotopes at Central Veterinary Research Laboratory. The lecturers will be Dr. Francis Lelo from Kenya, Mr. Henri Bayemi from Cameroon and Paul Boettcher, the IAEA Technical Officer.