PSVII-27 FAO-Honduras: Training producers and technicians in sheep management practices to enhance extension capabilities and strengthen food security concepts among college students

Abstract Enhancing sheep production is a strategy employed by the FAO-Honduras to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 crisis. It represents a component of the European Union Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) and aims to promote long-term economic resilience to reduce migration flows among the Honduran population. The College of Agricultural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, supported this initiative by leading a series of training sessions in Honduras. Four students provided theoretical and practical training in sheep management based on the principle of learning by doing to recipients and technicians of the FAO-Honduras CDP (RTP) over 3 d in three municipalities in the Department of La Paz. During the hands-on activities, students trained 67 RTP participants (n = 25, 24, 18/d) in five areas of sheep production: 1) General Knowledge, 2) Growth and Feeding, 3) Biosecurity and Management, 4) Hooves Health, and 5) Ewe and Lamb. These areas included 16 specific topics, such as zoometric measurements, physical examination, physiological parameters, age estimation, 5-point check, weight estimation, dietary requirements, dry matter content of feed, medication labels, injection sites, biosecurity and best management practices, hoof trimming and diseases, pregnancy detection by ultrasound, and care of the newborn lamb. To evaluate RTP participants’ learning, a pre- and post-survey instrument containing the 16 topics was used. The surveys asked participants to rate their knowledge gained on a 1-5 scale (1 = poor, 2 = fair, 3 = good, 4 = very good, and 5 = excellent). Weighted means were used for the five areas to compare knowledge before and after the training. The findings indicate that training increased RPT Sheep General Knowledge by 2.23 units (from 1.63 to 3.87), Growth and Feeding by 1.75 (from 1.90 to 3.65), and Biosecurity and Health by 1.85 (from 1.43 to 3.58). Knowledge on Hooves Health and Ewe and Lamb areas improved by 2.47 (from 1.43 to 3.91) and 2.04 (from 1.53 to 3.58), respectively. Additionally, paired t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests at the 95% confidence interval were conducted for each area to assess significance of the difference in means. The differences for all 16 questions from the five areas were statistically different from zero. Differences were ranked in means for the 16 questions and it was found that participants indicated they learned more about general content and Growth and Feeding Practices, and less from Biosecurity Management Practices. It is possible that the latter category required participants to work more on practical activities. These results indicate that more time should be allocated to activities in future trainings. In conclusion, the theoretical-practical program in sheep herd management, based on the principle of learning by doing, benefited students from a short study abroad program aiming to strengthen the food security concept and enhance farmers’ extension capabilities.