Welcome to the web site for Cornell University's course on bioeconomic modeling for smallholder systems!
The classical instruction portion of the course took place during the summer of 2002 and during November, 2002. The course will continue to run online through use of the course web site.
On this page you will find details and information about the course.
Additionally, from this site you can request an account to gain access to the material on the course's internal web site.
Course Description
This course was offered for scientists at FOFIFA, ICRAF and KARI who have responsibilities for policy and technology analysis.
Students were trained in principles of dynamic systems analysis, and in the design and use of the Crop, Livestock and Soils in Smallholder Economic Systems (CLASSES), integrated bioeconomic model of east African rural systems dynamics being developed under the USAID BASIS CRSP project “Rural Markets, Natural Capital and Dynamic Poverty Traps in East Africa.”
The course consisted of two sessions of classical instruction – a two-day session in Kenya in June 2002 followed by a two-week session in the United States in November 2002 – and electronic consultation between the students and course staff prior to and following the first session, culminating in each student’s design, calibration, validation and sensitivity analysis of a variant of the CLASSES model.
Course Objectives
- Impart skills to students that will enable effective use and modification of the integrated bio-economic CLASSES model for policy analysis. These skills will enhance students’ understanding of how the structure of rural systems affects system performance in the wake of various interventions, equip students to adapt the model structure in order to simulate unique features of their specific environment, and facilitate more accurate and sophisticated ex ante impact assessment.
- Stimulate systems thinking by the students in order for them to better appreciate the complexity of most systems that arise not from the complex subunits but rather from their intricate linkages. Such systems thinking helps policy analysts anticipate how interventions in one part of a complex system commonly result in responses from the other parts of the system, thereby helping to mitigate undesirable unanticipated consequences of policy and project interventions.
Contact Information
For more information contact:
Christopher
B. Barrett, Professor
Department of Applied Economics and Management
Cornell University, 315 Warren Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-7801
Email: cbb2@cornell.edu, Telephone:
607-255-4489, Fax: 607-255-9984
