The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) is pleased to once again announce the Ministerial Conference on Higher Education in Agriculture (CHEA) due 15th – 19th November, 2010.

The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) is pleased to once again announce the Ministerial Conference on Higher Education in Agriculture (CHEA) due 15th – 19th November, 2010.Agriculture is Africa’s greatest industry and is recognized as the essential engine for economic development. However, all major studies have highlighted the urgent need to strengthen Africa’s human and institutional capacity for agricultural innovation to fill in the gap of a large missing generation of African scientists.

A recent World Bank study concluded “African universities and other institutions of higher learning ultimately will be responsible for replenishing the stock of human capital in national research and extension services, and for providing the broader set of skills necessary to grow agriculture in the 21st century. However, they are ill prepared at present to train the continent’s next generation of agricultural scientists, professionals, and technicians. The report concluded “…urgent action must be taken to restore the quality of graduate and
postgraduate agricultural education in Africa.”

In this regard, a regional meeting of African Ministers and senior officials responsible for Education, Agriculture, Science & Technology, Finance and Planning is being convened by Uganda Government and RUFORUM with the support of national, regional and international partners to discuss strengthening Higher Education in Agriculture, so that African Universities and other Education institutions can contribute more effectively to the CAADP process. The RUFORUM Vice Chancellors mandated RUFORUM to facilitate the meeting arrangements. The proposed ministerial conference aims to consolidate these recent developments by strengthening high level partnerships and policy support for re-engineering African Higher Education in Agriculture and Science.

Objectives of the Conference

1. To mobilize high level political and development commitment for increasing investments in Capacity development, including higher education, science and innovations in Africa
2. To focus attention of persons with the authority and influence to make a difference on the urgent need to address the state of professional and tertiary agricultural education in Africa (including a review of progress in implementing the Dar-es-Salaam meeting of Ministers and the Cape Town Declaration of Ministers responsible for Science and Technology)
3. To highlight the capacity implications (including numbers of scientists and agricultural professionals) of the 6% CAADP growth target;
4. To agree on the priority actions needed by governments, universities and other actors for learning institutions to produce graduates who are fit for purpose in 21st century Africa including how to modernize the facilities, offer cost effective quality academic programmes that respond to the needs of countries and students and achieve excellence and professional satisfaction (both academic staff and students).
5. To consolidate the various NEPAD continental funding targets towards science and capacity development (this includes the 1% GDP science
investment; CAADP 10% allocations etc) and give appropriate guidance to national finance authorities;
6. To facilitate international networking to spur and sustain re-engineering of Higher Education Institutions in Africa.
7. To mobilize African universities to be more pro-active in engaging in Africa’s development and in particular to make their due contribution to research and innovation

For more details, download the Concept Note and Conference Programme.