In pursuit of its goal to stimulate the growth of agriculture sector in Pakistan through support of stakeholders, Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) has launched a series of workshops aimed at providing professional knowledge to people working in this sector. These workshops have been planned in three major cities of Pakistan, Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, said a spokesman of the ASF on Wednesday.
The first three-day workshop of this series was held recently in Islamabad on “Cost Benefit Analysis for Agricultural Project”. Dr Ali Muard, Director MBA Programme, University of Central Punjab conducted the entire workshop in an interactive manner focusing on discussion and activity based learning techniques. He encouraged the participants to speak and take an active part in the discussions to make their understanding of the content clear.
Examples from practical life were discussed frequently and all the participants shared real life problems and experiences to attain a good understanding of Cost Benefit Analysis. It was an open registration workshop. 15 participants from all over the country attended the workshop. All of these participants were of top and middle management level, with a track of experience in the relevant field. The participants represented established organisations of Pakistan, working in the field of agriculture one way or the other.
The participants appreciated the relevant content of the workshop and the interactive methodology of the trainer. They appreciated the co-ordination and the overall management of the workshop as well. Moreover, they welcomed the idea of online workshops by ASF, especially for those, living in the areas where internet facility is available. They expressed that online workshops will benefit those especially who remain unable to reach the venue of these workshops because of financial constraints for travelling and accommodation.
At the end of the workshop, certificates were distributed among the participants. The participants found this workshop a good opportunity not only for learning but also for contact building in the same sector, which could benefit them in future to make collaborative efforts for the progress of Agriculture sector in Pakistan. ASF is determined to contribute for the development of Agriculture sector in Pakistan. It plans to arrange workshops on different topics in other sectors also which included Horticulture, Livestock and Dairy, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Leadership and Management, Research and Development, Finance and Project Management.
