An Overview of RUFORUM

Strengthening Agricultural Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (AHESTI) in Africa

Presented By: Charles OwuorDate: 22nd May, 2018

Venue: Montpellier University of Excellence, France

RUFORUM Evolution Universities responding to development challenges

• Revitalised MSc training in ECSA

• Over 250 MSc. graduates trained between 1992-2003

Forum as a Project

-1992

•Multi-donor support

•Collectively owned by African Universities

• Linking universities to communities

•1071 + and 212 PhD graduates trained between 2004 -2014

RUFORUM Network initiated -2004

• University private sector and government interconnectedness

• Fortified governance, resource base

• Vibrant academic mobility across Africa

RUFORUM comes of Age -2020

• Engaged Universities catalysing sustainable and inclusive development

• Impact oriented agricultural Research

• Enhanced innovation and creation of opportunities

• Create knowledge continental hub

RUFORUM Vision 2030

What we do

RUFORUM Vision 2030

RUFORUMFlagship

Programs

RUFORUMCommitments

Situation analysis

Vibrant transformative universities catalyzing inclusive agricultural development to feed and create prosperity for Africa

TAGDevTransforming African Agricultural

Universities to meaningfully contribute to Africa’s growth and

development

CREATECultivating Research and

Teaching Excellence

RANCHRegional Anchor Universities

for Higher Agricultural Education

K-HubKnowledge Hub for University Networking, Partnerships and

Advocacy

1. Student learning- Providing opportunity for transformative student learning2. Research Excellence- Member universities create and advance knowledge to improve the quality of life3. Community engagement- Member universities serve and engage society to enhance economic, social and cultural well being.4. Enhancing innovation- Member universities create opportunities promoting cooperative action among the public, private and civil sectors to leverage

resources to stimulate innovation5. Knowledge generation and sharing- Enhancing knowledge exchange to policy dialogue and reform to drive positive change in Africa’s food and higher

agricultural educations systems6. Fulfilling the potential of women in agricultural science, technology and innovation

African Higher Education Landscape• Low quality related to the low levels of transferable skills• Increased demand and enrollment amidst restricted and

inequitable access• Reduced public financing, inadequacies in key inputs and

infrastructure• Limited university engagement with communities and business

sector in research, development and training

Africa’s Agricultural Landscape• 2/3 of Africa’s population is dependent on agriculture• Africa holds ¼ of the worlds arable land• Agriculture is the engine for growth for most African

countries• Feeding 1.5 billion is already a daunting task, what about

2.5 billion by 2050

Africa coming from behind

• Currently food importing but potential is there

• Untapped resources: land, labour

• Yield gaps

• Inefficient market linkages

• Lack of locally relevant research

• Inadequate human capital

• Weak institutions

Future • Future food systems may exacerbate

inequality between nations and withinthem; this affects SDG attainment.

Need• Public and private investment in R&D,

education and advisory services• Government policies that elevate

inclusive social and environmentalpriorities for today and futuregenerations

• Multi-stakeholder collaboration• Creating system-wide transformation

RUFORUM Commitments (1) 1. Student attitude, teaching and learning:

transformative student learning by preparingstudents and developing their skills for the labourmarket

2. Research excellence: discovery, disseminationand application of gender responsive researchwithin and across disciplines

3. Community engagement: serve and engagesociety to enhance economic, social and culturalwell-being

4. Enhancing innovation and creating opportunities:promotes cooperative action among the public,private and civil sectors, to leverage scarceresources and stimulate innovation informed bydiverse perspectives, expertise and creativity

RUFORUM Commitments (2)

5. Knowledge generation and sharing: enhanceknowledge exchange and sharing of experiencesalong the entire food and agriculture value chain

6. Support to policy dialogue and reform: overcomethe barriers that have traditionally inhibitedtransformation, by connecting and challengingleaders from diverse communities to supportpolicy innovation

7. Fulfilling the potential of women in agriculturalscience, technology and innovation: increasingthe pool of women scientists and professionalsand to strengthening gender-responsive researchfor development

RUFORUM Foresight focus • Capacity Building- Training a new generation of scientist for Africa

Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship; Agri-food Systems and Nutrition; Rural Innovations and Agricultural Extension; Agricultural Risk Management and Climate Change Proofing; Agricultural Policy Analysis; Statistical Analysis, Foresight and Data Management

• Continental Mechanism for Knowledge Exchange to Strengthen Integration between Agricultural Higher Education, Research and Extension (Biennial events)

• Dialogue- Policy dialogue at Regional level- C10, high level and National level –National Forums

• On-line platform- In partnership with IFFPRI/ASTI developing Portal on higher Agriculture, Science and Technology

• Community of Practice – over 18000 scientists across the continent

We Invite you to the Sixth African Higher Education Week

Date: 22-26 October, 2018Venue: Kenya InternationalConference Center, Nairobi, Kenya

Theme: Aligning African universitiesto accelerate the attainment of theAfrica’s Agenda 2063

Join the Conversation using #AfricanHEWeek2018

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