SIAM, a great opportunity to strengthen the opening of the ENA of Meknès to the socio-professional world

SIAM, which is in its 13th edition, is a space for meetings and exchanges between all actors involved in the agricultural sector and its related fields, namely decision-makers, institutional bodies, educational and research establishments, farmers, professionals, investors, service companies, banks, and consumers, he indicated in an interview with MAP.

Through the Training-Research-Innovation space, the ENA of Meknès, alongside other institutions of the national agricultural training and research system, including the Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Institute, the National School of Forestry Engineers, and the National Institute of Agricultural Research, presents to visitors, professionals, and the general public its training actions and its achievements in research-development and technology transfer in relation to the theme of SIAM, continued the researcher. He noted that the ENA also establishes contacts with various actors in agriculture, professionals, institutional bodies, and academics, which generally materialize through collaborations and partnership agreements in the school's areas of specialization. Mr. Aboudrare also recalled that the ENA of Meknès receives on this occasion various high-level national and foreign delegations, particularly from African countries, which meetings often materialize through partnership agreements, specifying that SIAM also constitutes an opportunity for teacher-researchers and students to participate in conferences and scientific debates organized within SIAM on various issues of agriculture and rural development. According to him, SIAM constitutes an opportunity for students and young graduates to establish contacts with companies and professionals, with a view to securing pre-employment internships and contributing to the integration of graduates into the labor market, noting that this is a great opportunity for students to carry out studies, surveys, and interviews within SIAM, as part of their end-of-studies projects (PFE), with private and public organizations, companies, or associative and cooperative organizations on various issues related to agriculture and agri-food. The deputy director for research, cooperation, and partnership at ENA-Meknès emphasized the theme of the 13th edition of SIAM 2018, namely "Logistics and agricultural markets", while recalling the importance of logistics in the agricultural value chain, particularly in terms of good management of product and information flows from the purchase of materials and components to the use of the finished product by the customer. He also made it known that the ENA, as a public institution of higher agricultural education, created in 1942 and having contributed to the training of more than 3,600 agricultural engineers, including more than 250 from sub-Saharan African countries, attaches great importance to the aspects of agricultural markets and logistics in its training, research-development, and technology transfer programs. In terms of training, the aspects of agricultural markets and logistics are present in the school's programs and pedagogical activities, particularly through the "Agro-economic Engineering" stream with modules and courses specific to agricultural markets, he said, adding that internships, seminars, and end-of-studies projects are also focused on the market for agricultural and agri-food products and on agricultural logistics. Mr. Aboudrare also observed that in terms of research and development, several actions are undertaken in relation to the theme of the 13th edition of SIAM, including a research team working on axes related to agricultural markets and price formation, a research program on agricultural transport and logistics issues, a partnership with professional organizations to facilitate their integration into the market, and scientific and technical collaboration with agricultural transport and logistics companies. Deployed over an area of 180,000 m², including 87,000 covered, SIAM is expected to host more than 1,400 exhibitors from 67 countries and more than 850,000 visitors. SIAM, which is among the largest events in Africa dedicated to agriculture and operators in the agricultural sector, is organized around 9 poles, namely "Regions Pole", "Sponsors and Institutional Pole", "International", "Agro-supply", "Nature and Life", "Products", "Local Products", "Livestock", and "Machinery". Nour-Dine Nassiri (MAP)