FoodSTEM

It covers educational issues for the development of sustainable agriculture and food processing in Cambodia, in response to the need to develop a food transformation activity close to the production areas. It aims at creating favorable conditions in the 4 partner universities for the emergence of student entrepreneurship and micro or small enterprises.

FOODSTEM is An Erasmus Plus “Capacity Building in Higher Education” Project Co-Founded of the European Union which is related to Training a new generation of entrepreneurs in sustainable agriculture and food engineering. For the sustainable development of agriculture and of food industry in Cambodia, there is the need to build up a network of Cambodian public universities to address scientific and technical issues. A multidisciplinary approach therefore combining education, agriculture, food engineering and management is important for this development. So, the Foodstem project aims to build the capacity of 4 public universities in Cambodia (l'Institut Technologique du Cambodge, the Royal University of Agriculture, the Royal University of Law and Economics and the National University of Battambang) in order to train a new generation of entrepreneurs in sustainable agriculture and food engineering, with a strong emphasis on safety and quality with the support of 3 European university’s partners (l’Institut Agro Montpellier, INP Toulouse and the University of Liège).

The project is developing the necessary skills in the four partner universities to train a new generation of student entrepreneurs in sustainable agriculture and food processing by:

• Implementing e-learning facilities in Cambodian universities and build the capacity of Cambodian HEI in the area, with training of trainers and accessibility improvement
• Introducing e-learning courses related to entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector to address a large number of undergraduate students.
• Creating a new pathway “Entrepreneurship in the Agri-food Sector” at Master level
• Organizing innovation challenge and develop specific trainings and upgrade management skills and technical facilities for pre-incubation of student entrepreneurs
• Enhancing good practices in food quality and safety control in the Partner universities to support students’ projects.
• Building the capacity of partner universities in agri food and food safety labs management
• Strengthening cooperation of Cambodian Universities with European Universities and private sector to develop training programs, answering the market needs.