General
CAES and ACCELERATE Collaboration to Initiate PPPs That Boost Youth and Student Agribusiness Innovations
Makerere University’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) together with partners under the ACCELERATE Initiative have held a one day workshop and round-table conversation on Youth, Education and Innovation in development of sustainable Agribusiness.
The workshop was opened by the Deputy Director Directorate of Research and Graduate Training (DRGT) in charge of Administration Dr. David Owiny at the Makerere University Senate building on Friday, 17th August 2018.
ACCELERATE is a multi-stakeholder partnership for innovation, co-creation and enabling youth to build sustainable agribusiness informed by evidence-based research and with a global presence.
The aim of the workshop was to initiate Public-Private Partnerships for blended learning, which should identify the causes, consequences and expected responses for improving the capacity and competitiveness of the youth in agri-food value chains and solving the challenges of unemployment in Uganda with a global perspective.
The workshop was attended by members from Makerere University, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the Uganda Agribusiness Alliance, the Agripreneurship Alliance (Switzerland), Gulu university, RUFORUM, Rural Community in Development (RUCID), The Open Impact Institute, representatives from the private sector, development agencies, youth agripreneurship programs among others.
The Principal CAES, represented by Dr. John James Okiror welcomed participants to Makerere and Uganda saying, the university prides in such collaborative efforts in solving modern challenges.
In a special way, the Principal recognized the policy makers present adding that their presence signified their interest in the in Makerere’s activities and finding solutions to issues affecting the youth.
Makerere University program coordinator Dr. Fred Kabi said, the theme of the workshop was Entrepreneurship and Innovation for the Future of Ugandans with Emphasis on Marketing.
“The major aim of this platform is to ask a very hard question. How can we as a university get involved in solving the current challenge of unemployment in Uganda?
And we feel innovation and entrepreneurship can be one of the solutions and therefore this platform is seeking for a paradigm shift in training so that we are able to produce graduates who are innovative and entrepreneurial.
But we realize that innovations and entrepreneurship is a market. All innovations produced at the university need to be harnessed hence the need for government actors to help in lobbying,” Dr. Kabi explained.
Dr. Kabi said that the organizers went around the country visiting farmers and markets with innovations and organizations involved in value addition technologies like roasting coffee and packaging.
“The major question put to Government was whether it can deliberately establish regional incubation centres to engage the youth so that they are able to produce products for the local and international markets” Kabi added.
Because of the international markets, Kabi said the platform sought partnership from the global North to help form trade links.
“Students do not have to dig, they can see what others are doing; package it in an enticing manner to reach internal and external markets. We are trying to expose students and also invite inspirational speakers and this is crucial.
Overall, it is because of the high levels of unemployment that we thought we need a paradigm shift in training. But needed to feel the signals that is the market. We invited MUBS because they understand the aspect of international markets better,” the Don remarked.
Dr. Kabi disclosed that the CAES had come up with a mobility exchange program with Erasmus Mundus where Makerere University students on both undergraduate and masters programmes will benefit.
He said, because of the bi-national nature of this program there is need for a credit transfer system. The program will also involve staff exchanges between Makerere and the Swedish universities.
The Woman Member of Parliament Kitgum Municipality Hon. Beatrice Anywar gave a presentation on women and food security in Uganda and shared the experiences of women from Northern Uganda and the initiatives she was spearheading in her constituency to improve livelihoods.
Anywar observed that Uganda is a rich and blessed country but the population has not got the best out of it despite a number of Government initiatives such as the NAADS and OWEC.
She said there is need to focus on empowering women if the country is to move to commercialized agriculture on grounds that they are better agents of change.
“I am proud of women because of their ability to undertake multiple responsibilities to ensure there is food on the table… They are passionate to preserve the environment and they are less corrupt.” Anywar said.
The MP also noted that the potential of the youth who form the biggest percentage of Uganda’s population has not been fully tapped into. She also implored the University to classify Ugandan soils.
“If we could regionalize agriculture according to soil types so that the North has simsim, Buganda-matooke, Kabale-irish potatoes, this would avoid fragmented cultivation, establish regional silos and division of labour would come in,” Hon. Anywar said.
Prior to this workshop a section of participants and students visited RUCID in Mityana, Makerere University Food Technology and Business Incubation Centre (FTBIC), the University Farm at Kabanyolo and the Consortium for enhancing University Responsiveness to Agribusiness Development Limited (CURAD) centre.
Other sites visited after the workshop included organic farmers at Prunes Kololo and Gudies Leisure Farm in Najjera.
Report compiled by;
Jane Anyango,
Principal Communication Officer, CAES
The Gender Mainstreaming Directorate (GMD), Makerere University on 14th September 2021 presented findings from phase one of the study on Enhancing Women’s Participation and Visibility in Leadership and Decision-Making Organs of Public Universities in Uganda through Action Research. The study team led by the Director GMD and Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. Euzobia Mugisha Baine also consists of Assoc. Prof. Consolata Kabonesa, Dr. Anna Ninsiima, Ms. Frances Nyachwo, Ms. Susan Mbabazi and Mr. Eric Tumwesigye.
The team is also made of coordinators from participating Universities such as Busitema University-Ms. Elizabeth Birabwa, Kabale University-Sr. Dr. Eva Tumusiime, Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST)-Dr. Specioza Twinamasiko, Muni University-Ms. Amandru Stella Wawa, and Gulu Univeristy-Sr. Rosalba Aciro.
Funded by the Government of Uganda through the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF), the study was inspired by the fact that women are persistently few in numbers as staff, more so in leadership and decision-making organs of Ugandan Public Universities. “This is despite all the various efforts at national and international levels; the numbers are not growing as fast as needed to meet development goals of the country” explained Dr. Euzobia.
Based on this background, the study team therefore sought to conduct a situational analysis of the gender terrain of the six public universities to obtain baseline information encompassing the composition of governance and leadership organs and senior staff by sex, as well as a needs assessment and profiles of potential mentors and mentees.
Furthermore, the team sought to explore the capacity to conduct gender-responsive research as well as the role of male staff engagement in gender equity interventions within the universities as the drivers of development.
Dr. Mugisha-Baine shared that results of the baseline would then be used to design participatory training manuals or guides on gender and leadership. The manuals would cover; Institutionalized mentorship, How to conduct gender-responsive research, gender and equity budgeting, among others.
“Within these manuals, we shall have a male staff engagement strategy in gender equity interventions in universities” she explained.
The development of the aforementioned materials would then be followed by their adoption and use to build capacity for women not only in leadership of participating and other public university but also beyond. “We shall periodically evaluate whether the capacity we have built has influenced women’s participation in leadership and decision-making organs of the university” supplemented the PI.
The capacity building trainings for women, it is envisaged, will lay the foundation for the formation of a functional Uganda University Women’s Think Tank, starting with the six participating universities. Dr. Mugisha Baine added that through this Think Tank, a monitoring and tracking system for gender representation in recruitment, promotion, retention/turnover and leadership of public universities shall be established and maintained.
At the conclusion of phase one, the study team had drafted participatory training manuals in gender and leadership with content on; gender specific critical analysis of the leadership spectrum of public universities, positioning of individual women within the institutional framework and strategies for their advancement, gender equity advocacy in the university setting, institutional mentorship, building capacity in conducting gender-responsive research, among others.
“This content will be validated by the participating universities before the actual research training is conducted” added the PI.
On behalf of the research team, Dr. Mugisha Baine thanked the Government of Uganda for providing the resources that facilitated phase one of the study and prayed that the Mak-RIF Grants Management Committee (GMC) would support the next phase of capacity building.
Speaking on behalf of the Mak-RIF GMC Chairperson, Prof. William Bazeyo, Dr. Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala thanked and congratulated the team led by the Director GMD upon the milestones registered in the critical research.
“We are very proud of that work that is being done by all researchers in Mak-RIF and we would like to most sincerely thank Management for all the support throughout this process” she remarked.
Dr. Nkabala encouraged the research team to continue disseminating and using the findings for the furtherance of gender mainstreaming, particularly through the aspect of male staff engagement in gender equity interventions.
Prior to delivering the keynote address of the day, the Executive Director National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Prof. Mary Okwakol thanked the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe for inviting her to the important forum, noting that women’s participation in decision making and governance is a priority area of the Uganda Gender Policy 2007.
She commended Makerere University for being at the forefront of gender mainstreaming in Uganda, noting that this prominence was one of the reasons why the Gender in Education Policy 2007 provides for replicating the institution’s strategy in all other Higher Education Institutions.
Prof. Okwakol whose keynote address was punctuated incisive personal examples reaffirmed the statistics that women are generally not visible in leadership of Universities. That notwithstanding, in instances where they rise to leadership and decision-making positions, they are regularly subject to roles traditionally deemed as women’s inconsiderate of their managerial seniority and experience.
She nevertheless rallied the women to play their respective roles in enhancing participation and visibility at a personal level. The following were some of the strategies she proposed; work hard to acquire academic credentials so as to compete favourably with men, acquire necessary administrative training and experience, network among women, join professional networks as well as do research and publish.
On joining professional networks, she shared her personal experience as a young zoologist who joined UNESCO’s Tropical Biology and Fertility Programme. “Within a short time I was appointed Coordinator for Africa and after two years, I was elected as a Member of the International Board of Management. After serving for two years, I became Vice Chairperson of that Board and finally I became Chairperson of that International Board.”
At the institutional level, Prof. Okwakol appealed to the Chairperson Council and Vice Chancellor to proactively recruit women who meet the requirements for leadership positions even if it means actively seeking out the reluctant ones. In this regard, she shared that it would be useful for the university to develop a database of women and their qualifications to ease this process.
She shared that NCHE has in recognition of female underrepresentation at every level in Higher Education approved the establishment of a Gender and Equity Unit with the aim of promoting inclusive gender participation in the sub-sector.
“This unit has been placed under the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Accreditation which implies that as we look out for and regulate quality, gender will be a very important aspect of that regulation” she reassured.
Prof. Okwakol concluded by urging participants to read the; Third National Development Plan (NDPIII), Uganda Vision 2040, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) noting that there is no way all three can be achieved while women are left behind because they each make a case for inclusion of the female gender.
“What we are addressing here are historical injustices” said Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe as he commenced his remarks, “And in the case of Makerere University, it is well known that the institution started as a male-only institution and we all know the original motto was ‘Let us be men’” he added.
Citing examples from history such as; Marie Curie – one of the smartest physicists, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra – prominent Pharaohs of Egypt, George Eliot, Rosa Luxemburg and Hypatia – all great philosophers as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel – first female Chancellor of Germany, the Vice Chancellor said there is no plausible argument that there are things women cannot do as well as their male counterparts.
He said it was against this knowledge and in a bid to correct historical injustices that Makerere University pioneered initiatives such as putting in place affirmative action for girls, establishing a Gender Mainstreaming Directorate as well as a School of Women and Gender Studies. The Vice Chancellor nevertheless stressed the need to go beyond pioneering to protecting these gains through legislation. “Historically we have seen that discrimination can only be addressed by laws and policies.”
Prof. Nawangwe thanked the Government for providing funds to support Mak-RIF as well as the Funds GMC and Secretariat for ensuring that these funds are put to good use. He equally thanked the Chairperson of Council, Mrs. Lorna Magara for her not only her support but also sparing time to attend a good number of the research dissemination events.
Delivering the concluding remarks, Mrs. Magara acknowledged that the study was timely and relevant the contemporary University, as one of the critical drivers of the national and international development agenda. She therefore reechoed the Vice Chancellor’s thanks to the Government of Uganda for generously supporting the University’s research through Mak-RIF.
Turning to the keynote speaker she said, “I thank Prof. Okwakol for ardently discussing the critical issues affecting the female gender, the strategies to overcome the challenges, including sharing her inspiring personal experiences.”
Mrs. Magara equally thanked Prof. Okwakol for her very instructional analysis, providing mentorship guidance with the resultant impact of enhancing the female gender in decision-making positions. In the same breath she congratulated the PI and her team upon successfully concluding phase one of the project.
“Phase one has generated insights in understanding the status of women in leadership in public universities, the legal and policy framework and its implications on women’s visibility, the institutional mentoring systems and the gaps therein” she observed.
The Chairperson of Council acknowledged that the challenge of underrepresentation of women in leadership roles cannot be resolved at an individual level. She therefore advocated for broad based strategies that can address deep-seated structural and cultural biases facing women. “These include developing mentorship networks, enacting laws and policies that address the imbalances and providing training programmes to address the leadership gaps.”
She therefore pledged the University Council’s unwavering support to the Gender Mainstreaming Programme by ensuring an enabling policy environment that facilitates gender-responsive teaching, learning, research innovation and community service.
The research dissemination was moderated by the Principal Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ms. Ritah Namisango and the Director Communications, Learning and Knowledge Management, ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) and PRO Mak-RIF, Ms. Harriet Adong.
