Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM)’s partnership with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) was born in 2005 in Maputo-Mozambique, and subsequent successful convening in Mangochi-Malawi in 2005. During these convenings, young academics, supported through RUFORUM impressed upon the Foundation their ability to engage directly with farmers and to jointly address some of their agricultural problems. Subsequently discussions were held and an Institutional Strengthening Grant was awarded to RUFORUM. The Grant aimed to develop a comprehensive and viable program underpinned by strong governance and management anchored on RUFORUM’s project development, quality assurance and accountability systems. RUFORUM has benefited from this strategic investment, building a strong reputation for transparency, as well as excellent financial and technical audit and accountability systems, and is held in high esteem by its members.

Specifically, the support to the Secretariat helped:

(a) Develop functional Governance Organs and a fully constituted Secretariat with a dedicated staff, for mission fulfilment.

(b) Strengthen mission delivery mechanisms (implementation, measurement and evaluation, mentorship and close relationships with Network members);

(c) Support diverse convenings that have raised the profile of member universities and the convening power of RUFORUM;

(d) Strengthen member universities capacity to mobilize resources for collective and individual needs;

(e) Contribute to development of quality graduate training programs that meet national to regional needs through its regional MSc and PhD training programs and as well as graduate research grants;

(f) Support development of quality assurance systems for higher education;

(g) Promote an inclusive agenda by intensifying training of women and their engagement in science, technology and innovation

(h) Reduce human resource erosion from African Institutions, thereby increasing return on investment by BMGF and other development partners on higher education

(i) Catalyze stronger relationships with governments and strengthened relationship between universities and policy makers.

Overall, therefore the Institutional support to RUFORUM has been critical for establishing a strong foundation for a viable sustainable African led and grown Institution, something that would not have been possible if only short-term support had been provided. In fact, under this grant, RUFORUM network expanded from 32 universities in 2009 to 129 universities in 38 African countries in 2019. This expansion, underpinned by a strong institutional structure has increased the regional and international image and position of the network as a vibrant outcome and impact-oriented consortium. This strong institutional setting of RUFORUM has been key to attracting, leveraging and maintaining funding and increasing investment opportunities from other partners and Governments that continue to sustain RUFORUM operations and activities.

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