Evidence of efficiency in PhD Training for an institution of higher learning is given by its high enrollment, short completion time and high number of publications from completed thesis. These result in more effective undergraduate training, higher institutional reputation and higher ability to solve societal problems leading to enhanced national development.
The ValueLead project was launched and hosted by Humboldt University in partnership with Haramaya University (Ethiopia) and Egerton University (Kenya). The project intended to facilitate the provision of appropriate knowledge in the areas of sustainable and quality - oriented fresh - food management.
The ARIS project seeks to develop a regional PhD programme in Agricultural and Rural Innovation Studies to enhance application of science and technology in improving rural livelihood and economic growth of countries in the Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) region.
Priorité au développement agricole
Le Burkina Faso, le Mali et la Guinée sont parmi les plus pauvres de la planète, où une large frange de la population vit en dessous du seuil de pauvreté et dans une situation de sous alimentation chronique. La flambée des prix des denrées alimentaires rend cette situation plus difficile encore. Au moment où la crise alimentaire s’installe, on sent le discours changer. La Banque Mondiale a montré la voie avec son rapport 2008 intitulé “L’agriculture au service du développement”. Le développement agricole, les cultures vivrières, l’exploitation agricole familiale, l’autosuffisance alimentaire et les politiques de soutien à l’agriculture semblent devenir des thèmes prioritaires sur le théâtre du développement et de la coopération internationale.
Depuis 10 ans, les organisations paysannes se sont multipliées et regroupées au sein de structures nationales et même régionales. Cette dynamique paysanne est encore fragile, mais constitue un fait politique nouveau et une opportunité pour penser et mettre en oeuvre des politiques portées par les acteurs du secteur.
L’addition de ces réalités nouvelles -crise alimentaire, attente de politiques agricoles et dynamique paysanne- suscite une forte demande de ressources humaines capables de relever le défi de la dynamisation de la production et de la productivité agricole. Or, l’offre de formation dans ce domaine souffre, en Afrique de l’Ouest, d’au moins deux handicaps : l’absence d’approches pluridisciplinaires et spécifiques aux questions de développement agricole et la déconnexion avec les réalités et les acteurs de terrain. Les formations sont souvent trop généralistes, trop théoriques et trop centrées sur une seule discipline.
Better PhD programmes to boost agriculture in Africa
Although agriculture is vital to sustain life and the economy in Africa, the productivity
of the sector is very low, leading to widespread food insecurity and poverty. To increase growth, agricultural research and training and technology development need to be strengthened. Attainment of this goal requires a strong human resource base to drive agricultural innovations and development process.
The project “Strengthening capacity of universities in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa to offer quality graduate programmes” responds to this challenge and aims to build capacities in African universities in training high quality human resources and strengthening research in the agricultural sector.
The project is complementary to the continent wide initiative by the Forum for
Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) to build Africa’s human resource and institutional capacity at Master’s and doctoral levels. The project will contribute to FARA’s aims by building capacity to train PhD graduates, and strengthening university competencies in training and research management.
To achieve these goals, five universities from Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia will set up an African inter-regional network together with an association of universities in Eastern and Southern Africa. The network will draw lessons from the experience in PhD training of Montpelier Sup Agro in France.
In Ethiopia and Kenya, the agricultural sector is vital for both economic growth and employment. Production and supply of fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy products are particularly important – and need to meet growing demand. However, coordinated supply or value chains, necessary to effectively ensure stable and high-quality supply, are still lacking in these East African countries.Furthermore, smallholders and landless labourers, including women, are still facing high insecurity of incomes, which results in a constant threat of poverty.
The ValueLead project aims to tackle these issues by building capacities and enhancing expertise in the fresh food sector. The “Value Chains for Poverty Reduction in the Agri-Food Sector – Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education” (ValueLead) project will achieve these goals by enhancing institutional capacities, as well as teaching and curricula in fresh-food chain management. It will also strengthen the university-industry linkage through institutionalised collaboration on multiple levels. This will be implemented through close cooperation and sharing of expertise between Humboldt Universität zu Berlin in Germany, Haramaya University in Ethiopia, Egerton University in Kenya and several associated partners from the agricultural and horticultural sector.
Competent and higher-level human resources are critical in addressing the socio-economic development needs of societies in the East African region. In recent years, labour market demand for well-trained Ph.D. natural science graduates has been rising sharply. However, East African universities have too few Ph.D. students and of too inconsistent quality to meet this demand. Furthermore, the quality and reputation of many HEIs in the region do not meet international standards. This results in the departure of the best brains to overseas studies.
The project Promoting Excellence in Ph.D. Research Programmes in East Africa (PREPARE-PhD) sets out to address this need and to develop competent high level human resources within agriculture, veterinary science, human nutrition, natural resource management and related fields.
The project will strengthen local research capacity and regional networking in East Africa by upgrading whole Ph.D. systems through a holistic and inclusive approach, actively involving the institutions’ management, but also administrative staff, supervisors and Ph.D. students themselves. This will be carried out through networking and sharing of knowledge between three universities in East African and one in Europe: Makerere University in Uganda, Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania, University of Nairobi in Kenya and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
… financed by the European Union and Implemented by the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States Secretariat, the programme supports cooperative projects between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the ACP Group of States, the EU Member States and other eligible countries. more about EDULINK...
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