Capacity building in the East, Central and Southern African TAE

landscape: Opportunities and future directions

Capacity building in the East, Central and Southern African TAE

landscape: Opportunities and future directions

Ms Nodumo Dhlamini 6th FARA Agricultural Science Week

16th July 2013 – ACCRA, GHANA

The HypothesesThe Hypotheses Capacity for responsive research and

training of high performing graduates is critical

Broad but practical training of post-graduate students is key

Achieving rapid and sustainable agricultural productivity growth is essential to raising overall economic growth and meeting the MDGs

The welfare of smallholder farmers throughout much of Africa remains linked to agriculture. Food Security achievable through support for smallholder driven research

Landscape Landscape • Strong TAE Actor support in ECSA- RUFORUM,

FARA, ANAFE, AAU, NEPAD, CTA, AGRA, ……..• Uncoordinated investments (and limited

investments) in the TAE in ECSA - at times there is duplication of efforts

• Investment challenges: Donor dependency leading to volatility

• Capacity challenges: High staff turnover - Staff departures and an aging pool of well-qualified researchers is a concern in ECSA; Limited training opportunities - SSA universities face constraints such as increased workloads, affecting quality of teaching and student supervision

Examples of leading Agricultural Capacity Building Networks in Africa

Examples of leading Agricultural Capacity Building Networks in Africa

Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM)

University network: 32univs. in 18 East, Central & Southern Africa countries

•Competitive MSc (375) research grants

•Collaborative PhD training (85)

•Community-action research program. & institutional grants

•National stakeholder forums

AERC: Collaborative MSc in Agricultural & Applied Economics (CMAAE)

Network of departments: 18 univs. in 12 countries

•MSc (242)

•Shared electives facility

•African & external subject specialists

• PhD (11) support

•department building grants

• professional peer review

AGRA: Education for African Crop Improvement (EACI)

Network of departments: 10 univs. & 2 regional hubs for 13 countries

•Redeployment to national programs of PhD (80) and MSc (170) crop scientists and breeders

•Cornell U. back-up

Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA)

Hub and nodes model : One hub & 5 institutional nodes for 17 countries

•Top expertise & facilities

•Visiting scientists (60)

•MSc/PhD students (100)

•Alumni lead research programs at home universities; return to BecA as visiting scientists supervising own grad students

The African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE)

A network of 132 educational institutions in 37 African countries whose objective is to strengthen the teaching of multi-disciplinary approaches to land management.

Source: Bloom, et al. 2006. Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa.

Linking higher education and developmentLinking higher education and development

Transforming Africa’s agriculture: The need for a strong innovation capacity

Transforming Africa’s agriculture: The need for a strong innovation capacity

Observation: Full potential of Africa’s arable land is from 150 – 700% per region, = 300m. Ha.1.Economy-wide challenges: Inadequate investments in non-conventional inputs especially public goods (transport, education) and policies that stimulate private initiative and market development.2.Agriculture sector challenges: Inadequate or inappropriate use of conventional inputs such as land, labor, fertilizer, seed, pesticides

Source: Hugo Ahlenius, 2006. UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Source: Henao, J. and Baanante, C. 2006

Tilting the imbalance for agricultural growth Tilting the imbalance for agricultural growth

8

– Demand increasingly exceeds capacity- improved primary, secondary education programmes;

– Quality Issues: lack of resources, human capacity –proliferation of TAE institutions; burgeoning private programmes

– Inequity: gender, socio-economic– Missing linkages with labor markets- growing private

and civil society sectors; – Mis-match with development needs- skills mix– Inadequate incentive structure, lack of financing

Critical TAE Challenges exist in Africa

Challenges cont…Challenges cont…

• Problematic Curriculum review and reform processes and implementation

• Agricultural Development hampered by limited capacity. Limited funding to support post-graduate training in African universities.

• Ageing Agricultural Scientists• Mandate from African Heads of States to

implement CAADP as a concerted and comprehensive strategy for achieving Vision for African Agriculture

Opportunities and Future DirectionsOpportunities and Future Directions

Underpinnings for TAE investmentUnderpinnings for TAE investmentConsider:• Fragile environments - Vulnerability may increase• Food security & Sovereignty issues - 54% in Africa

living in urban centers by 2030• How to tap into local resources - Africa’s per

capita income is increasing in tandem with other developing countries, IMF forecasts Africa will grab seven of the top ten places over the next five years

Moving forward: Future Directions (I)Moving forward: Future Directions (I) Sustainable Financing Models: Mobilize greater

government support for TAE Develop policy reforms to facilitate private-sector

engagement and participation Human resource development to assure the

success of CAADP : Halt the prevailing high turnover of agricultural scientists; Strengthen institutional capacity to create an enabling environment

Restore the quality of higher education in agriculture - develop innovative teaching / training methods – harness ICT; practical field based learning; Harmonize Quality Assurance systems

Moving forward: Future Directions (II)Moving forward: Future Directions (II) Data collection and analysis to support the TAE

agenda in ECSA. Audit what has worked well in terms of the higher education successful models and scale up

Advocacy and constant lobbying for increased support and engagement of the African higher education networks in policy making and programme implementation for agricultural training and research by the AUC, RECs, NEPAD-PCA and FARA.

Strengthen the collaboration and innovation platforms for higher educations to still remain relevant

Moving forward: Future Directions (III)Moving forward: Future Directions (III) Strengthening capacities of universities for implementing

SYSTEMIC CHANGES Strengthening partnerships for capacity building initiatives

– based in comparative advantages A comprehensive assessment of institutional strengths

and weaknesses of member universities - - -needed for design of a comprehensive and coordinated Capacity building Strategy for the region (RUFORUM, ANAFE, ASARECA, ETC)

Strengthening M&E - Establishment of a “UNIT” to monitor what is happening in the very DYNAMIC landscape, and coordinating responses in terms of Capacity Building.

Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM)Plot 151 Garden Hill, Makerere University Main CampusP.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.Tel.: +256-414-535939Email: secretariat@ruforum.orgURL: http://www.ruforum.org