Historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama is partnering with Sathguru Inc., the global consulting firm based in India, and the Nepal Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) on a project to boost rural agricultural production in Nepal. The initiative is being funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The goals of the program are to:
* Develop innovative, transformative, and student-centered curricula for AFU students.
* Increase the number of workforce-ready students.
* Accelerate university engagement in sponsored research with technology transfer and create a vibrant engagement of AFU in extension services.
*Include greater youth development, gender equality, women’s empowerment, and private-sector engagement.
Olga Bolden-Tiller, dean and research director of the Tuskegee University College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences will lead the project. She stated that “we are thrilled at this new opportunity to assist Nepal. While Tuskegee University is known for its international development in the field of agriculture, the current project will also demonstrate Tuskegee’s proven innovation in recruiting and training individuals to successfully impact youth development, gender equality, and women’s empowerment as well as private sector engagement, which are the strategic cross-cutting elements.”
Dr. Bolden-Tiller is the first woman to serve as dean of the College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences at Tuskegee. She is a graduate of Fort Valley State University in Georgia and has a Ph.D. in animal sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia
Are you kidding me? Instead of worrying about agricultural development in Third World country called Nepal, Fisk University need to be more worried about feed poor people in Tennessee. Does Fisk University offer language courses in Nepali? Probably not. The president of Fisk University, Kevin Rome should be duly ashamed for this misguided decision. Again, this is a glaring example of HBCU upper echelon administrative malfeasance of the highest order.