The Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) in partnership with Makerere University will hold the first Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday 19^th November 2019. The objectives of the Town Hall meeting are to: raise awareness about AAP to the leadership and faculty of Makerere University; increase the level of participation of faculty members in AAP's activities; and highlight key findings of some of the research conducted by AAP grantees across Africa.

AAP is a collaborative and cross-disciplinary platform formed to address today’s global challenges in a way that is sustainable, effective, and equitable. It was formed in May 2016 following a consultation with 14 African leaders including Makerere University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe hosted by Michigan State University (MSU).

Meeting the Vice Chancellor on Monday 4^th November 2019, Prof. Isaac J. Minde the Associate Director AAP shared that the Alliance was formed based on the need to change the structure of prevailing development-oriented trends. “We can no longer form partnerships based on the same terms we did 40 years ago: African institutions have built capacity over the years and so we need to have mutual respect and two-way traffic between partners in the North and South.”

Prof. Minde added that the AAP Consortium is currently made up of ten institutions namely: Michigan State University; Makerere University; Egerton University in Kenya; Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) in Malawi; University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania; Unviersite Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal; Universite des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Bamako in Mali; University of Botswana; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and the latest admitted member University of Pretoria in South Africa.

In his remarks, Prof. Nawangwe warmly welcomed Prof. Minde to Makerere University and expressed the institution’s keenness to host the Town Hall meeting. “As one of the founding members of the AAP that attended the convention at East Lansing in May 2016, I wish to reassure you of our willingness to host the Town Hall meeting and any such future events.”

The Vice Chancellor added that as a show of Makerere’s strong support for AAP, the University nominated its Director of Research and Graduate Training-Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi to be the contact person. He commended the AAP for identifying six interrelated themes that match Makerere’s research agenda. AAP’s six priority areas include: Agri-food systems; Culture; Health and nutrition; Water, energy, and the environment; Youth empowerment; and Education.

“Agriculture is one of our number one priority as a Nation, owing to our rapidly growing population. As the academia, we must constantly think of how we are going to feed all these people and transform our agriculture sector to meet growing demands” explained Prof. Nawangwe.

The Town Hall meeting will precede the Regional Network of Agriculture Policy Research Network (ReNAPRI) 2019 Conference that is slated for 20th to 22nd November 2019. The AAP Advisory Board Chairperson-Dr. Thelma Awori, AAP Director, Africa Secretariat-Prof. Richard Mkandawire, MSU staff, directors of research institutions, Mak academia, researchers, graduate students among others are expected to grace the Town Hall meeting.

Article by Public Relations Office