Training the Next Generation of Scientists for Africa
Can Universities effectively support sustainable and
inclusive development in Africa’s rural communities?
Lessons and Experiences from RUFORUM
Dr. Moses Osiru, Deputy Executive Secretary, SLU, Sweden
17 November, 2015
Presentation outline
1. Introduction
2. Key trends in Higher Education
3. Background to RUFORUM, its evolution and mission
4. Strengthening university understanding of grassroots
demands
5. Building regional centres of leadership
6. Concluding remarks
Background and Introduction
• Deepening inequality, # in extreme
poverty rising
• By 2040 Africa will surpass Asia with
1.1 billion workforce
• How are African University contributing
to strengthening the fundamentals of
the growing economy
Ratios of high-level knowledge outputs to academic staff with doctorates
Source: Bunting et al. (2014) An Empirical Overview of Eight African Universities
‘Postgraduate education hostage to undergraduate expansion’- high
undergraduate enrollment and low PhD graduates
Country
BSc
Msc
PhD/ MD
Total Postgrads
% Postgrad
• 0.5%GDP on research
Botswana (06)
14,904
1134
0
1134
8
Ethiopia (03-04;07)
172,111
Yes, nd
Yes
5700
3
Ghana (07-08)
106,382
4628
280
4908
5
Malawi (08)
9,082
459
15
474
5
Mozambique (03)
63,000
452
nd
452
1
Nigeria (04)
958,476
Yes, nd
Yes, nd
83,387
9
Senegal (03, 06)
55,006
Yes, nd
Yes, nd
4994
9
South Africa (05,06)
735,073
44,321
9,434
53,755
7
Uganda (06)
92,605
2,100
109
2209
2
Source: Hayward et al., 2014)
Growth in the HE sector -Enrolment changes
Although varying in time frames and scope the figures below give a
snapshot of enrolment trends
 2,000 in 1970 to over 250,000 by 2012 Kenya (overall)
 5,000 in 1970 to close to 198,066 by 2011 Uganda (overall)
 90 in 1965 to 15,000 by 2015 Malawi (University)
 9,997 in 1990 to 93,973 in 2007 Ghana (public universities)
 28,000 in 2004 to 90,664 in 2013 Benin (University of Abomey-Calavi
largest)
 11,500 in 1993 to 550,000 in 2014
Changes in Education Profile in Korea and
Ghana, 1960–2000
Distribution of African University Graduates by
Field of Study, 2005
Level of foreign
funding too high
• Short term, volatile funding
• Difficulty in building research
programs
• Inability to respond to priority
problems
• Distortion of research - publication
culture
• Government funding often for
recurrent expenditure (double/
triple teaching
• Explore and diversity funding
streams for higher education
training; e.g. GETT, TETT funds;
student loans
Nature 520: 142-143, 9 April 2015; ASTII Data
policy makers &
the private sector
Collaborators
farm groups, NGOs
& extension
onfarm
national research
organizations
offstation
advanced institutes
onstation
in lab &
glasshouse
at desk
on computer
with
communities
collective
action
extension
materials
pilot
technologies
scholarly publications
concept
notes
theoretic
basic
applied
adaptive
outreach
Research & Development Continuum
Low social impact,
poor outreach
services and
responsiveness to
community needs
‘Yellow notes’
• RUFORUM founded by Vice Chancellors to:
• Provide a platform for training quality
graduates to connect knowledge with
practice in rural communities and respond
to issues facing small scale farmers in
Africa;
• Advocate for transformation of higher
education for relevance in Africa including
strengthening
gender
equity
and
environmental sustainability; and,
• Rationalize resource use and enhance
economies of scale and scope (share
expertise, cross disciplinarity).
What does it mean to be a
RUFORUM alumni?
Catherine Mloza Banda,
Farm Radio Trust,
Lilongwe, Malawi
Agriculture Today
How can I diversify my
income What time is
the rain going to fall
this year?
Where can I find a
good market for
my soybeans and
groundnuts?
The rainy season
has started
extremely late. How
can I adjust my
farming activities?
I have a malnourished child.
What is the best regimen to
get his weight back on
track?
The value RUFORUM adds...
Research that is
-based on the felt needs and challenges of rural communities
- conceptually developed in consultation with the farmers themselves
-conducted in the field; with the farmers
Connecting knowledge & practice
African development problems require African solutions developed by
African scientists with an understanding of the African situation
The Lessons: Enhancing
Development Impact-CARP
Knowledge
Attitude
Aspirations
Skills
Personal
Development
Students
Institutional
Development
Universities
Use of Knowledge
Services
Community Action
Research
Community
Sustainable
prosperity
Strategic objective 5: Facilitate STI policy reforms, harmonization, science
diplomacy and resource mobilization
• Held continental African Higher Education Week in 2014 to strengthen/foster effective
partnerships and multi-stakeholder platforms for coordination. Next event is due 19-23
September 2016 in Stellenbosch, South Africa with focus on engaging the private sector and
Civil Society
• Worked with the President of Malawi to host a side event at the United Nations’ General
Assembly on 26 September 2015
• Worked with President of Malawi to host Ministerial Conference on Higher Education 20-21
October, 2015
• Developed a crowd funding model for financing agricultural higher education in Africa
• Facilitated Universities in Eastern and Southern Africa to source for funding under the World
Bank’s African Higher Education Centers of Excellence
• RUFORUM with Government of Malawi initiated arrangements to identify and engage African
philanthropies and private sector to fund postgraduate training in Africa
Key lessons learnt
• CARPs a powerful mechanism for deepening
the role of universities and allied partners in
community transformation.
• GRGs remain a major tool for training the next
generation of scientists who are familiar with
contemporary rural development issues.
• Then need to focus investments in strategic
areas within crop-livestock nutrition nexus.
• Strengthening programme and policy design in
the network through evidence generated by
MEL.
• The scope and scale of impacts needed require
wider and or new partnerships.
MSc and PhD students
engaged in discussion on
greenhouse experiments
RUFORUM Capacity Building Framework
Graduate Research Grants–
Value Chain Focus
Community Action
Research Programmes
Collaborative Regional
Degree Programmes –
MSc. & PhD
Mentoring, esp. Women
Institutional Strengthening
Grants
Twinning Elite & Emerging
Universities
Training and
Research
Institutional
Strengthening
Network
Service
Partnerships
and Policy
Outreach
Internships &
Attachments
Communications
Technology Platforms
Knowledge Management
Biennial Conferences
Research Methods
Emerging Topics
Graduate Assistantship
Exchanges
Quality Assurance
National Forums
African Gov’ts
Private Sector
SROs, RECs &
continental bodies
MOUs with the CGIAR
M&E
Diversified Stakeholder/Resource Base
Strong Governance/Mgmt. of the Network
Partnerships with Global
Capacity Building Institutions
SLU and RUFORUM
• Partnerships to strengthen Regional Training programmes through
technical support to the programmes; faculty and students exchanges
• SLU to provide targeted PhD training for especially Faculty staff
• Joint Commissioned studies a) research focused, and b) strategic
studies such as proposed JOMETA
• RUFORUM is keen to host Summer schools and field attachments for
SLU/Swedish Students
• Build on lessons in the BIO-EARN Program
Training the Next Generation of Scientists for Africa
Universities effectively supporting sustainable and inclusive development
in Africa’s rural communities
•
Communities gain as active stakeholders
•
Experiential learning
•
Student employment
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