Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS) is part of the research conducted in this program in Ethiopia in collaboration with Texas A and M University and three CGIAR centres: International water Management Institute (IWMI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
The training was conducted by the Feed the Future Innovation Laboratory for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) which is led by Texas A and M University. It was given by a team of participating scientists from Texas A and M University to graduating students from different Universities and young scientists from different institutions and with diffrent backgrounds in economics, agronomy, water resources, hydrology and engineering.
Addressing the participants in his opening speech, Dr. Seifu Tilahun, Scientific director of BiT, pointed out that training workshops of this kind on models and integration of models are essential to adequately understand the integrated impact of agricultural practices on the environmental sustainability, production and household income and nutrition.
He added that BiT hosted a similar training with more than 80 trainees five years back and that five of their faculty members were an intern at Texas A and M University to attend a training on Soil and water Assessment Tool (SWAT), Agricultural Policy/Environmental Extender (APEX) and Farm Income Simulator (FARMSIM) with the objective of taking over with time the role of TAMU and IDSS in Amhara region in particular and in Ethiopia at large.
