Hamid Faisal
An alumnus of Kardan University’s MBA program (2019), Mr. Hamid Faisal has recently been awarded a fully-funded scholarship by the University of Pavia in Italy, to pursue a second master’s degree program in International Cooperation and Development. The scholarship is an intensive program that trains professionals in food security, demographics, human capital development, and humanitarian aid.
Mr. Hamid Faisal is an experienced Program Manager with a demonstrated history of program planning and managing agriculture program development with several international aid organizations in managerial positions since 2011. His work areas include data collection, monitoring and evaluation, research & teaching, capacity building, and change management. His last assignment was with a USAID-funded Agriculture Marketing Program (AMP), where he worked as Senior Sustainability and Advance Training Specialist.
His master thesis was ‘Developing Strategies for Apple Value Chain Development in Wardak, Afghanistan’. He created four fundamental strategies critical for the value-addition and sustainability of the apple value chain in Wardak province. His research findings can be replicated to other fruit value chains within the agribusiness industry of Afghanistan.
Hamid has a passion for research in agribusiness and food security. He is a co-author of two applied research papers published by the American Journal for Agriculture. Following are references to the two studies:
- Paul Ebner, Kevin McNamara, Amanda Deering, Haley Oliver, Mirwais Rahimi, Hamid Faisal. 2016. Towards Developing an Industry-Validated Food Technology Curriculum in Afghanistan.
- Faisal, H., McNamara, K., & Breazeale, D. (2016). Agriculture Sector Needs Assessment. Balkh Province.
Prior to his departure to Italy, Mr. Faisal was also a visiting lecturer at Mashal University in Kabul, where he taught courses in the area of Business Administration. He also mentored students on research methodology and personal development.
Mr. Hamid Faisal is eager to return to Afghanistan after completing his second master’s degree program and actively take part in developing Afghanistan’s educational sector and serving the war-torn country and its people.
His key message is “never give up on your dreams; slow progress is better than no progress, and we are capable of achieving anything if we plan, strive, and work hard to achieve our goals”.