A total of 51 scholarships (48 MS and 3 PhD) are available starting first semester, school year 2010-2011 for junior and mid-level professional staff of the central and regional offices of the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA).

The scholarship is one component under the “Umbrella Capacity Development Program on Strategic Management and Policy for Agriculture Professionals and Executives of the Department of Agriculture” funded by the DA and implemented through SEARCA in partnership with three Manila-based academic institutions.

The program provides support to fulltime and part-time graduate studies of selected DA professionals towards MS and PhD under any of the following general priority areas in support of food security and rural poverty alleviation: 1) strategic leadership and public management, 2) development economics and agricultural policy, and 3) agricultural business and trade and investment.

Successful applicants may pursue their graduate studies at any of the following collaborating higher education institutions:

• Ateneo de Manila School of Government (AsoG)
  • Master in Public Management (MPM) specialized in Strategic Leadership for Agricultural Development
• University of Asia and the Pacific School of Management (UAP)
  • Master in Food Systems Management
  • Executive Master in Business Management (Strategic Business Economics Program)
• University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPEcon)
  • Master in Development Economics
  • PhD in Economics

The program generally aims to produce a cadre of homegrown, world-class career bureaucrats who can competently and proactively steer the government's agriculture program in synergy with local governments, the private sector, external markets, civil society, small producers and their communities, and other national and international partners.

For applicants starting first semester 2010-2011, the deadline for submission of application documents to the Expanded Human Resource Development Program (EHRDP) of the Agricultural Training Institute of the Department of Agriculture (Diliman) is on 31 March 2010. The DA-ATI will then submit the documents of all nominated candidates to SEARCA on or before 30 April 2010.

For further details, please visit http://www.searca.org/web/e_library/announcements/DA-SEARCA_Scholarship_announcement.pdf