Agricultural Research and Extension in Syria: Present Situation and Policy Recommendations

This paper was produced as result of the research activities carried out during the Individually Tailored Training phase conducted under the FAO Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA. “ASSISTANCE IN INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING AND AGRICULTURAL POLICY” from September 2000 through April 2001 with the objective of letting trainees experiment how to prepare economic studies in the field of agricultural policy. This activity was the last phase of a three years long training program aiming at establishing a cadre of agricultural policy analysts for the NAPC and related institutions. In particular the paper on “Agricultural research and extension in Syria: present situation and policy recommendations” was produced by a team composed by Salah Eddin Saker, Saleh Othman, Walid Hamzeh, Abdul Hadi Al-Rifai and Ghassan Nassour working under the supervision of Mr F.M. Santucci, professor at the University of Perugia (Italy) and international consultant for FAO. The NAPC decided to publish this research under the Working Papers series in consideration of its contribution to a better understanding of the role of extension services in Syrian agricultural development.