The Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA) at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development is gaining momentum in becoming the regional centre of choice. To reach this objective, CEEPA provides quality degree and non-degree training, research excellence, increased awareness, and a platform for collaboration and exchange. To that end, CEEPA, in cooperation with GovInn (a joint Center of the University of Pretoria and CIRAD-France) delivered the second edition of a 5-day graduate-level training between 20 and 24 May 2019. The training focused on the Theory and econometrics of individual and collective choice analysis: choice and controlled experiments.

Trainings like these serve to inform public policies that seek to mitigate welfare losses emanating from poorly informed choices made by individuals and society that face global environmental challenges. These challenges include climate change, declining water availability and agricultural productivity, which leads to inferior socio-economic outcomes. CEEPA thus tailored the training to equip post-graduate students and young professionals with advanced economics tools required to analyse individual and collective choices in support of sustainable outcomes, including promoting SDG2 (zero hunger), SDG6 (clean water and sanitation), and SDG13 (climate action).

Twelve participants from five South African Universities (University of Pretoria, Nelson Mandela University, University of Johannesburg, University of Kwa Zulu Natal, and University of the Western Cape) and two participants from the University of Nairobi in Kenya participated in the training sessions.  Overall, the students came from a wide range of countries including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Cameroon, thus providing a platform to not only network but also cross-pollinate experiences and case studies from the continent.

Participants playing one of the experimental economics games as part of the session on collective action

The participants actively participated in the discussions and enjoyed the many hands-on activities developed by the instructors of the course. One of the participants noted that "Overall, the course was good or rather excellent! I enjoyed the teaching, balance between theory and practices. The training gave me the motivation to continue with my PhD. Thank you for the CEEPA team for your patience and efficiency. I would recommend the training to any PhD who is planning to use experiments as instruments." Based on the positive feedback and the high levels of satisfaction, CEEPA is already working on a 2020 edition.

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