Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - International Agricultural Trade And Development

What is the summer school about?

The summer school in Sudan 2021 is carried out by the International Agricultural Trade and Development Group at Humboldt-University of Berlin. The school comprises a three-week program that focuses on the theoretical background and applied methods for analyzing policies related to the agricultural and food system with a special focus on simulation models.


The summer school will be held between 12.09.2021 and 30.09.2021 in Khartoum, Sudan. The school is jointly organized by the International Agricultural Trade and Development Group of the Humboldt-University of Berlin, Germany together with the Agricultural Research Corporation and  the University of Khartoum, Sudan as local partners.


Eligible for application are Master or doctoral students, graduates, and young scientists from Sudanese universities, other research institutions, and public and private institutions working in the field of agricultural economics or related fields.

 

Content

The summer school consists of three consecutive one-week workshops, focusing on teaching hands-on tools for analyzing economic and agricultural policies.


The first workshop focuses on the theoretical foundations of scientific policy analysis. The workshop will reinforce the microeconomic foundations of the participants, introduce the main policy instruments related to the agricultural and food system and discuss methods to measure effects of policy intervention.


The second workshop deals with the quantitative analysis of agricultural and food policies using partial equilibrium models. Through hands-on case studies, the participants will learn how to apply this class of models and learn about their advantages and shortcomings.


The third workshop addresses applying computable general equilibrium models to analyze the economy-wide effects of agricultural and food policies as well as other external shocks. Participants are first introduced to the development of the database used as a benchmark for such models, namely, the social accounting matrix and  learn how to apply such models for policy and simulation analysis. Finally, participants will be provided with hands-on case studies and they will be informed on strengths and limitations of this class of models.


The teaching staff from International Agricultural Trade and Development Group at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has developed experience in conducting similar workshops in many countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.


Besides the workshops, the summer school offers four public lectures. The lectures will invite the scientific and economic policy communities in Sudan to discuss pertaining research topics in Sudan that can be addressed with simulation models with reflection on the research conducted at the International Agricultural Trade and Development Group and related lessons inspired by the German context. The participation in these lectures is public to all interested audience from academia, policy and politics institutions and individuals.


Finally, every Tuesday evening, a social event will be organized to provide general information about Germany and German culture and share information on the opportunities for related studies and research exchange in Germany and with German institutions. Participation in these social events is also open to the public.

 

Objective

The main goal of the summer school is to offer Sudanese graduate students (in the field of agricultural economics and related fields) young scientists, and employees of related institutions an opportunity to further develop their theoretical and practical skills in the field of simulation modelling and economic policy analysis.


The summer school focuses on policies applied to the agricultural sector, which contributed over 30% to the Sudanese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020. It also employs more than 40% of the population, with especially high shares in rural areas. Furthermore, the participants will also analyze policies which address other stakeholders along the food value chain up to final consumers.


The  summer school provides practical hands-on experience in various types of simulation models and their application for policy analysis in the context of a country like Sudan, where agriculture is of high relevance. The public lectures will contribute to drawing the linkages between theoretical modeling and practical policymaking with examples from Germany and other parts of the world.