DOCTORAL PROGRAMME IN
AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION
IN TROPICAL FOOD CHAINS

(Coordinated by ISA)Reasoning and coherence:Agricultural growth contributes directly to food security and socioeconomic development.Many of the least developed countries, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa, and in marginal production environments across the developing world, continue to experience low or stagnant agricultural productivity, rising food deficits, and high levels of hunger and poverty.Recognizing that, in countries from tropical regions, progresses and modernization in agriculture and whole agri-food chains are intimately connected and are the engine for economic development and poverty alleviation, this curricular unit aims at exposing students to updated concepts, analytical and methodological approaches and contemporary trends in the fast-evolving global and regional policies dealing with food and nutritional security and the global food system issues, under the particular lens of climate changes and understanding how food security and nutrition shapes policy analysis.Topics emphasized:1. The evolving concept of Food Security [and Nutrition] from the 1960s to the 2020s
2. Food Security and Nutrition quantification and analysis: indicators, indexes and methodological frameworks
3. Governance analysis of Poverty-Agriculture-Food-Health-Socioeconomic Development using Nexus and socioecological approaches
4. Interventions in agri-food Value Chains for Pro-Poor Development: transitions from subsistence to commercial family farming, accessing informal to formal markets
5. Land tenure, local knowledge and grassroots politics in agrarian societies from tropical countries
6. The central role of infrastructures, postharvest, food losses and food waste
7. Transitions in Food Systems and the Global Syndemics
8. Agricultural international trade and Global Value Chains: distortions and opportunities

(Coordinated by INIAV)Reasoning and coherence:Demographic pressures, climate change, diets transitions, and the consequential increased competition for quality land and water are likely to increase vulnerability to food insecurity particularly in Africa and Asia.Recognizing that tropical regions have particular structural problems in their natural resource base - including growing water scarcity and rising salinization and pollution of soil and water courses and bodies, soil erosion and exhaustion, and loss of biodiversity - and the deteriorating trends in the capacities of ecosystems to provide vital goods and services are already affecting the production potential of important food-producing zones, this curricular unit aims at developing skills for the use of diagnostic methodologies, analysis and implementation of solutions appropriate to the integrated assessment and management of natural and social resources for decision-making.Techniques, such as Environmental Footprint (EF), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) are presented taking into consideration the existence of trade-offs between environmental needs and agricultural production under the specific context of tropical regions.Voluntary labels aimed at increasing value-added products or social impacts are also presented.Topics emphasized:1. Environmental challenges and specific context of tropical regions
2. Ecosystems services and management of natural resources
3. Biodiversity-oriented economy and the value of endemic species
4. Genetic resources management and methods for plant and animal breeding
5. Management of soil fertility and conservation under tropical climate conditions
6. Integrated management of water resources: planning, smart practices and reuse
7. Resources recovery from wastewater and wastes and agriculture
8. Environmental evaluation and certification methodologies: Life-Cycle Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment, voluntary labels

(Coordinated by ISA)Reasoning and coherence:Understanding that agricultural production technology in the tropics has lagged behind temperate-zone technology, despite the vast potential of tropical regions to nurture a vibrant agri-food sector, this curricular unit offers competences for advanced analyses frameworks and practices aimed at farming systems optimization.All contents are specifically contextualized to today’s tropical socio-ecological environments in recognition that agricultural technologies must be specific to the needs of tropical economies, and most importantly, most of the blockages to close yield gaps and to develop profitable value chains currently faced by today’s developing countries are distinct from those faced in the past by industrialized countries.Hence, appropriate technology and promising innovations to produce more with the appropriate use of inputs are presented for the most representative different farming systems in the tropics taking into account distinct pathways for changing crop production and yield optimization, with an emphasis on sustainable intensification approaches.Topics emphasized:1. Limiting factors for production and the yield-gap in tropical agriculture
2. Analysis and functioning of farming systems by region and agro-ecological zonation
3. Crop ecophysiology in the tropics and yield optimization
4. Sustainable agriculture production systems and farm operations: conservation soil mobilization and tillage
5. Sustainable agriculture production systems and farm operations: rain-fed farming, irrigation and fertilization
6. Sustainable agriculture production systems and farm operations: weeds control and plant pathology and protection under challenging tropical climates
7. Precision agriculture and mechanization
8. Livestock management and health in the tropics
9. Farm labor organization
10. Pathways for sustainable vs. ecological intensification of farming and agroforestry systems

(Coordinated by ISEG)Reasoning and coherence:Northern countries represents a major growth market for tropical agriculture while the demand of tropical regions’ growing middle class provides a growing market for temperate agricultural and food products.Recognizing the world as increasingly serviced by a global food supply, integrated food systems and organized under global value chains, this curricular unit provides a theoretical framework to understand drivers and opportunities for producers in tropical countries to assume an important position within value chains on the basis of competitive advantages, giving producers’ a favorable negotiation position and is scoped to explore new ways of “doing business".Likewise, it provides training on entrepreneurship attitudes to foster jobs in agribusiness and enhance income growth, which promotes rural development. For that, understanding institutional set-ups to promote innovations and up-scaling on research and innovation capacities is an addition goal.Topics emphasized:1. Business models and entrepreneurship
2. Information systems and technologies for agribusiness
3. Agri-food innovation and marketing
4. Sustainability assessment of food and agriculture systems
5. Agri-food chains and value creation
6. Aquaculture and fishing value chains
7. Youth and gender empowerment in agri-food value chains
8. Stakeholders engagement

After completion of this curricular unit, each students must have defined his/her research question, overall objective, specific objectives, tentative research experimental design and methods, expected research limitations (including possible ethical concerns), plus a complete literature review on the topic.