Hon Audley Shaw (2nd right), Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, views banner following ribbon-cutting exercise at the launch of the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica’s MSc in Integrated Rural Development (MIRD) programme in St. Andrew on February 7, 2019. Sharing in the occasion (from left) are Dr. Amani Ishemo, MIRD Coordinator, Dr. Paul Ivey, Associate Professor, and Dr. Garfield Young, Dean, Faculty of The Built Environment, UTech. The MIRD programme is the first of its kind to be established in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon Audley Shaw, has commended the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica for its innovation in the establishment of a Master of Science Degree in Integrated Rural Development (MIRD) programme, the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Minister Shaw was speaking at the official launch of the programme at UTech in St. Andrew on February 7, 2019, where he noted that graduates of this programme would now have an opportunity to help to inspire development in rural Jamaica.
The 18-month graduate programme is the fourth of its kind to be established in the Faculty of The Built Environment at UTech and is aimed at equipping students to become self-employed and potential employers.
Dr. Amani Ishemo, MIRD Coordinator, said this course of study will direct students to entrepreneurial focus through modules such as Rural Entrepreneurship and Planning and Management of Rural Projects.
He further stated that the programme is aimed at redressing “the persistent state of rural deprivation by producing graduates with holistic approach to utilize the vast potential of rural areas for national development”.
The programme is supported by local and international partners the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, Bureau of Standards Jamaica, Scientific Research Council, Planning Institute of Jamaica, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and Brandon University, Canada.
The MSc in Integrated Rural Development programme was conceptualised based on a visit of Brandon University President, Dr Garvin Fearon, to UTech in early 2016 who highlighted the successes of the rural development degree course of study at Brandon University.
