The Regional Centre For Resilient Agri-Food Systems (CRAFS) in the School of Natural & Applied Sciences (SNAS) at the University of Malawi is implementing the African Centers of Excellence project, phase II, Additional financing (ACE II AF) for the East and Southern Africa funded by the World Bank. The aim of the project is to contribute to agri-food systems transformation in Africa through training highly qualified human resources and delivering high-quality research outputs in agri-food systems related areas. As part of the training component of the project, CRAFS, in partnership with the Forecasting for Social Good (F4SG) initiative, an official section of the International Institute of Forecasters (IIF), will offer a December 2023 short course on “Tidy Time series analysis and forecasting using R” to support learning and research in critical areas of resilient agri-food systems

Description

 It is becoming increasingly common for organizations to collect huge amounts of data over time, and existing time series analysis tools are not always suitable to handle the scale, frequency and structure of the data collected. In this workshop, we will look at some new packages and methods that have been developed to handle the analysis of large collections of time series. Hence, attendees will learn: (i) How to wrangle time series data with familiar tidy tools, (ii) How to compute time series features and visualize large collections of time series, and (iii) How to select a good forecasting algorithm for your time series. After the course, the participants will be awarded certificates for participation. 

Mode of learning

 This is an advanced level blended training course, targeting both local and regional postgraduate and early career researchers. A maximum of 60 participants will be allowed to physically attend the training at the University of Malawi, Zomba-Malawi in Brown Chimphamba Computer Labs. 

Facilitators 

Prof. Bahman Rostami-Tabar (Cardiff University) & Dr. Elias Mwakilama (CRAFS - University of Malawi)

 Registration

 Kindly register for the designed training course through the link https://forms.gle/PwEhz5WhevaRiSf16 by Wednesday 6 th December 2023. For further details, contact the short course organizer Dr. Elias Mwakilama on +265-888-310-061 or via email at emwakilama@unima.ac.mw

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