Farming seen as road to recovery
By KEVIN HOWE
Herald Staff Writer

NPS hosts world ag conference
By KEVIN HOWE
Herald Staff Writer

Whether it’s an earthquake in South America or mass flooding in Eurasia, natural disasters can strike at anytime, anyplace around the globe. Typical first responders on the national level are a mixture of military and civil units focused on putting pieces back together for nations and communities in need. The U.S. military and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) routinely respond to these humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) missions and participate in relief efforts side-by-side.

To hone these joint response efforts, the Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Center for Stabilization and Reconstruction Studies (CSRS) came together with OFDA’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to present a Joint Humanitarian Operations Course (JHOC) to military students Sept. 21- 24.

Agriculture and the empowerment that comes with self-reliance allow conflict-affected environments around the world to rebuild economic foundations and establish lasting resources.

From March 22-25, the Center for Stabilization and Reconstruction Studies (CSRS) at the Naval Postgraduate School hosted a workshop titled “Agriculture: Promoting Livelihoods in Conflict-Affected Environments” to discuss key components of conflict-affected agricultural reconstruction in countries like Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya and Afghanistan.