SEP 3 - 1974 OBJECTIVES of INTERNATIONAL TRAINING in Ag.Ricultural ·Economics ·Library AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA . DAVIS . , SEP 3 - 1974 OBJECTIVES OF INTERNATIONAL TRAINING IN Ag.ricultural ·Economics ·Library AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS / D. Gale [ohnson The University of Chicago While perhaps not intended to apply to American training in agri- cultural economics for foreign nationals, the following exchange brings out points that perhaps hav~ troubled each of us: Q. "You have been sarcastic about what you call technocratic opti mism. Does this mean that you don't put much store in the use of modern technology in the underdeveloped countries? Particularly, do you think the so-called green revolution can:not have a signifi- cant effect? · · A. "I can tell you a story. I once visited a great university here with a glorious agricultural school located in one of the most glo rious agricultural districts. of America. There were a hundred Pakistani and Indian students present and they wanted to see me. When we met, I said: 'What are you doing here? There is nothing you can learn here that·you can possibly apply back home among your mud houses in the villages. ' And they appeared to agree with me. Conditlons in the poor countries are vastly different from those here. Climate. Factor proportions. Social Relations. The tech nology they need is different from ours. Of course it should be modern, built on the latest scientific discoveries, but it has to fit their conditions." The responder was Gunnar Myrdal (3, p. 31). What answer can we give to the question: What can young men and women from developing countries learn through the study of agricultural economics in American universities that will help them when they return home? Is the answer, as given.by Myrdal for a group of students studying some unspecified aspects of agri culture, nothing? Very little? Or a great deal? Paper to be delivered at annual meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association, College Station, Texas, August 19-21, 1974. 2 As one who believes that science is universal--that the po.wel'." to understand the mysteries of life. may come from any place and any time and can have applicability to other places and times--I was amazed and shocked by Myrdaf's advice to the students from Pakistan and India. Either Myrdal ~as being sarcastic when he described the institutio~1 that he visited as •~a great u:n:Lvers:Lty . • •. with a glprious agri(:!ultural school •.• " or he has littl,e understanding of the relationship between research and technology. His response s.eemed to imply that all that was b.eing learned from the. American agricultural institution was technology and tl,.e technology being studied was appropriate only to the factor supplies of the United States or perhaps only of the agricultural region where the students were studyi:p.g. The sciences of genetics, nutrition, pathology, physiology, chemistry and hydrology have nothing to do with factor pro polc'tions or climate or soeial :relations. Perhaps the s.tudents were studying onl,y technology, but I doubt this very much. And it is clear that there is a great deal of American or European agricultural tech n;ology, with some modifications, that can be applied profitably in the developing couhtties. Some examples might be sprinkler irrigation, the \ control of the cotton ball weevil or the corn borer, the control of many animal diseases~ or construction of irrigation dams. :Out to speak critically of the position taken by Myrdal does not take us very far in understanding what American training in agricultural . economics.can contripute to the improvement of agriculture and welfare in the developing countries, It is my responsibility to discuss the ob jectives of international training in agricultural economics. It is. my view that the appropriate objectives of graduate education 3 in agricultural economics for s.tudents who are nationals of the developing co,,m~,ries are the same as the objectives for high quality programs for Americans. We owe foreig~ nationals who are our students no less than we ow~ Students from our own country. My coll~agues on this program will undoubtedly suggest how we can improve the means by which we ap"."" proacI:i our ends or objectives~ The objectives of graduate education in agricultural economics are·the development of: · 1. A firm understanding of the major principles and theories of econo.mics; 2.. A grasp of the fundamentals of empirical analysis adequate to permit undertaking research on important economic problems involv i1;1g the application of economic analysis; 3, An understanding of essentials of the analysis of public policies,. including an appreciation of the stre)lgths.and limitations of economic analysis in such evaluations; and 4. The capacity to grow and.develop one's capacity as a scholar, re-· searcher, adm:Lnis ttator and policy analyst. Our objecti:ves are not those of providing our graduates with answers to a series of specific questions but rather to provide them with the principles and tools that will permit them to answer the important.ques;... tions that will arise ii1 the years ahead. As oµr own experience indicates. the most pressing questions of today are likely. to be replaced by a rather. different set of que:sti,ons tomorrow. If the function of our education was to provide answers to questions, rather than providing .the capacity f:or answering questions, we would almost certainly be answeri1:1g y~sterday' s questions and not even those of today let alone tomorrow's. I I serva,tJ._i,e ,and do rw.t call .fo.r an .ex:t-ensio,n or bi,qa_deni~g o;f :v.r,hat mPs't of us in ,th.e ,tJniv:ersities think we are nC;')w ,doing. This is a. ,eo,:r.r,eq:t ll>ntei; pretation. I be.li.ev:e that the berit,ca,ge <::if eco,nonid.c analy:-sci,s. -a:liid theo~y is fl ,p,!)tilerf:ul ai1d valuable heritage capahle .o;f gr:0¥,th _l;ln.d -d.ev;e:101>meat in the futu;re as in the past. I do not think that I 1~m l>,eing ,J!)eg;rQ,.ch:lal ~he,11 I say that t:H'l oJ~:het so.cial sc:L.ence hc:1.s tAe ric;hes of the:0ry,, aµ._ai~sis arld c:1>p.wroach to the und.erstanging of humc;1,n behavior that ex:ists in ,tl;J.,e ,eoirJ:u.s ou:fl; to iµdicate that we shoqld •be proud, of what we have to .c,.f,fer. tt ';ts true that ,ecJ;1110niic anaJ,.y!:!oi~ eneompasses q.nly .a par·t of hunkm i b.ebav::;i,Q.r, thoµgh recent ap.pl.ications Qf econmnic .anal,.ysis to a wider rdnge o-f prob:lems..--,-marriage, crinie, fertility; suicide,...,..:f.;ndicates that we have p.er·hap,a, u.nderestJn,.a;t;:ed the gen.erality of eco-n:om;ic theory and the extent to w:hi,ch eels ts a,nd ben.ef :!,ts affect h111nan behavior. But even as the mo.re ;J:.~ginat::i.ve alllong us extend the range o.f pehavior that ec;onpmic anal,y1:1~s ma,r :l.:J.,l1Jtninate ti;, 1:1ome degree~ 'W'e should e111phasize to qur students that not all important d:ec:isiop.$" whether .pf the farm, the fa1'1:J.ly, the state or the na:t::i,t?cn~ rest $Olely .Qr primarily \!POU the considerations that we ate mo,~t c~pable o-f e~Hcating. This is necessary for at. lec1-e;,t two reasons ... - it i.s_ lru,ce and .:f, t is perhap,S, of help in preventing un<;h.1e ox unnecessart, fr~stration a.nd deS!Pa:lr when what is cleatly good research or good advice l sa:1-d earlier that I felt that the objectives of gradt1,ate education .;. ' in a,gricultural econo1I1i.cs for foreign nationals a,hould be the s;ime as hi,e obJecttVle~. qf high qt1,ality pro.grams fo-r Americans. There are, per:haps~ ,two 5 differences of ,some significance. that we should recognize ... •,.. ,, ,· . \ . First, iQ. the United. States, Can~da apd other industrial countries. the agi:iGultural economist has a reasc;,nab+Y ~ccurate perception of the various .roles that. he can perfo:i;-m -in the various institutions of his. economy. l\nd these institutions have more ,or less .accurate eJt-pectations of what it ~eans, to employ the serviaes of. agricultural ecortomists. But the agricu1tur_al economists in most devel,oping countries do not. go home to equally w~+l defined situations. Some.may well be the first agricul tural economist with a Ph.D .. deg!ee to hold a position in a .particular institutional, setting in their country and perhaps the first agricultural economist with an M.A. or a Ph.D. .We can, if asked, give our American or• Canadian graduates a reasonably clear description of the expectations and opportunities .. surrounding positions in a large ntiml,er of institutions, whether they be government bureaus, private firms, or universi.ties. But I suspect that we,often fail to realize how great the difference may be between the roles for which we educate our students and the·actual roles envisaged by the various institutions that employ agricultural economists in many developing countries. As a directly related point, we need to recognJz.e that_, in most developing countries an agricultural economist has, far less support in terms of colleagues, libraries, equipment and competent research personnel than we have. I am not sure that we can do much tq prepare our graduate students for their far more difficult circ1,1ID,stances, except to recognize these conditions and to let.our students know thatsuch difficulties will confront them.