| dc.description.abstract | Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are in crisis. The capacities of
institutions to maintain quality is often undermined by declining funding, brain drain, deteriorating
infrastructure, civil disorder, and massive expansion of undergraduate enrolment. Graduates are
ill-prepared to meet the demands of the employers in the global market and to address the needs
and priorities of the local communities.
Past models (U.S. Land grant universities-1960s &1970s and State Agricultural University, India 1980s),
introduced in African universities to overcome the persistent challenges facing agriculture
higher education by increasing efficiency and effectiveness through enhanced connectivity
between education, research and extension functions, failed. An EDULINK project “Strengthening
of university capacity for promoting, facilitating and teaching rural innovation processes
(SUCAPRI) has been conceived to address this issue through south-to-south and south-to-north
partnership. It involves a network of teaching and research staff in Makerere University in
Uganda, four universities (Nairobi, Egerton, Kenyatta, and Jomo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology) in Kenya, the International Centre for development-oriented
Research in Agriculture in the Netherlands (ICRA), and National Agricultural Research
Organizations in Kenya and Uganda (KARI and NARO, respectively). The Commonwealth of
Learning (COL) has been strategically co-opted to enhance ICT capacity.
This proposal seeks to provide a platform for sharing with stakeholders our pilot experiences in to
strengthen the capacity of five African universities to prepare professionals with the competencies
needed to promote agricultural and rural innovations. The platform will provide an opportunity for
stakeholders to share relevant lessons and experiences on capacity building that promotes
holistic learning to address the real needs and priorities of the communities. It is hoped that we
will come out with the answer the question –What is the best model for capacity building that
integrates the research, training and outreach functions of agriculture? | en_US |
