Advanced Statistics Training Courses Conclude, Promoted by CATIE and KoLFACI

• CATIE, in its role as regional coordinator of projects sponsored by KoLFACI, has promoted two valuable and important training events for technicians from the Coffee and Cacao Projects.

In May of this year, the courses on “Advanced Statistical Modeling for the Analysis of Data from Coffee and Cacao Trials” began.

During 10 weeks of training, participants studied topics such as models for data correlated in time and space, with heterogeneous variances; as well as other modeling strategies for data with complex structures. Models for count variables were also addressed: Bernoulli, binomial, Poisson, and negative binomial models as main topics, in addition to other specific subjects proposed by the participants. 

This training was carried out virtually, assisted by the Navure software. The course was led by M.Sc. Eduardo Corrales, from CATIE’s Biostatistics Unit. Course participants represented a total of 11 countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.

International Technical Training

The syllabus was selected with the goal of providing advanced knowledge in the field of statistical analysis in order to improve the skills of the technicians involved in both projects. This, in turn, will allow them to have the necessary tools to perform analyses and generate more complex results and interpretations using the data generated by the projects. Possessing this knowledge and tools will also enable them to prepare more robust documents and scientific publications, further supporting the projection of the work carried out by each institution in the different countries.

At the end of these 10 weeks, 35 technicians successfully completed the course, thus obtaining a certificate of approval, endorsed by CATIE, for a total of 40 hours of training. It is important to mention that the new knowledge acquired will be applied within the projects promoted by KoLFACI, as well as in other projects of the partner institutions, contributing to data analysis in other activities not only for coffee and cacao crops but also for other productive sectors.

Ongoing Strengthening

CATIE and KoLFACI will continue to promote capacity-building activities for the coffee and cacao projects implemented in the region. For both projects, it is essential to provide opportunities for continuous training of technicians on relevant topics for the promotion of these important crops, under a sustainable production approach, while also strengthening technology transfer to small and medium-sized producers in Latin America.

Inspiring Testimonials:

Rodolfo Acuña Florián, INTA, Nicaragua: “First of all, I want to thank CATIE for this opportunity to strengthen my knowledge, as I had participated in the first course two years ago; however, this opportunity allowed me to reinforce my knowledge even more. In addition, and in a very special way, I want to thank Eduardo for his great capacity, professionalism, and patience to facilitate these training processes. The important thing is that we are going to put this into practice. In my particular case, I will review all these recordings that we have here.

……My goal is to put into practice and improve my data analyses because we see that this is very practical, concise, and very important software for each of us as researchers…”…”

Luis Amaringo, INIA, Peru: “I want to express my sincere thanks to both Chelsia and Eduardo… I really liked the Navure software; it is a very versatile and user-friendly program. The connection between results and graphics, the order it maintains—I have worked with R and Infostat, but this one remains very organized in the way it provides the information. Above all, it has helped me to improve the conceptualization of the model to be used, both for mixed linear models and generalized models. I was able to learn a lot.”

Cristina Jiménez López, INTA, Nicaragua: “For my part, I am very grateful for this training, where Compañero Eduardo taught us how to use these tools for data analysis, which will be very useful for new analyses in our cacao research work. I will try to apply the correct analyses according to the type of research I will carry out, in order not to discard data, but instead to look for models that best fit the type of research. Thank you again for providing us with this knowledge.”