Loaves and the fishes
Problem is how do you coordinate a shortage of actually qualified experts.
Like you said elsewhere, the need for ag guys (or girls) is huge, especially if we want to restructure the whole system (from opium), but there will only be a handful at best. So, how do we spread them out.
Obviously, there will be a lot of newly gazetted "ag specialists" coming, but god knows how many of them will really be that, and how many would have the depth to support and guide a real ag change.
So, you try to figure out some kind of an expert flying team that allows the real experts to set and manage the framework at a higher level, and works downward to support field implementers.
In Iraq, being just a dumbass planner rather than an ag guy, I was content with just mapping out all the stuff---what was grown where, what economic and system infrastructure was needed, and what stuff was available. Couldn't restart poultry without grain and hatchlings, etc... So we started mapping chicken stuff, and caught a lot of ribbing from IAD staff for fragos about our chicken hunt. Then moved on to dates, tomatoes, cows, etc....
We heard that you couldn't get hatchlings in Iraq, but, one day we were convoying down Route 1 from Bayji, and off in the distance was an old factory building with a picture of chicks on the front. We pulled in and, sure enough, the place was full of hatchling being warmed and rotated---25,000 at a time. So you never know what you don't know until you go out and look.
But, once the map was completed, it allowed our limited number of ag folks to contribute info on what as needed in each sector (value chains, etc..), and begin to target ag support stuff.
What we were looking for, as mappers and grunts, was to find the info that could engage the experts to tell folks in the field what they could do, and how to do it. If the shortage is ag guys, we do what we can to expand their capabilities and impacts.
The Afghan surge will be driven by scarcity of experts, so ways to expand their impact and replicate their talents will be crucial.
Steve
Bookmarks