Seven years after a RUFORUM delegation met Zambia’s then Acting President, H.E. Inonge Wina, to seek the country’s support for hosting the 2026 Annual General Meeting, the Southern African nation is preparing to welcome over 1,000 delegates to discuss how African universities can translate higher agricultural education, research and innovation into tangible development outcomes.

In September 2019, a delegation from the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) paid a courtesy visit to Zambia’s then Vice President and Acting President, H.E. Inonge Wina, in Lusaka. The meeting, held on 25 September on the sidelines of Zambia Higher Education Week, provided an opportunity to strengthen collaboration between African universities and the Zambian Government in advancing agricultural higher education and research. During the engagement, a request was made for Zambia to host RUFORUM’s 22^nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in 2026, an undertaking that received the Vice President’s support.

Seven years later, Zambia is preparing to fulfil that commitment as it hosts the 22^nd RUFORUM AGM from 30 November to 4 December 2026 at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in the capital, Lusaka.

The meeting, which is expected to attract over 1,000 participants from across Africa and beyond, will bring together Vice Chancellors, Principals, Deans, researchers, policymakers, government representatives, development partners, private sector actors, students, innovators and farmer organisations to deliberate on the role of higher education in Africa’s agricultural transformation.

Held under the theme, “Translating higher agricultural education, innovation, and research into action for Africa’s agricultural transformation and development,” the AGM will provide a platform for African universities to reflect on their contribution to the continent’s development and explore practical approaches to strengthening education, research, innovation and partnerships. The meeting will be hosted by the Government of Zambia in partnership with four RUFORUM member universities, the University of Zambia, Copperbelt University, Mulungushi University and Kapasa Makasa University.

Strengthening the role of African universities in agricultural transformation

Established in 2004 by ten African university Vice Chancellors, RUFORUM has grown into a continental network of 175 universities across 40 African countries, working to strengthen the capacity of African universities to respond to the continent’s agricultural and development challenges. Hosted by the Government of Uganda at Makerere University, RUFORUM envisions vibrant, transformative universities that catalyse sustainable and inclusive agricultural development to feed and create prosperity for Africa. At the centre of its mandate is the recognition that African universities must go beyond teaching and awarding academic qualifications to become drivers of scientific discovery, innovation, entrepreneurship and community transformation.

Through postgraduate training, collaborative research, institutional strengthening and partnerships with governments, industry and farming communities, RUFORUM seeks to develop the human capital and scientific solutions required to transform Africa’s agriculture and agri-food systems.

Over the years, the network has championed efforts to make higher agricultural education more responsive to Africa’s development needs by strengthening graduate training, promoting research that addresses practical agricultural challenges, and creating opportunities for young people to participate meaningfully in agricultural innovation and enterprise development.

The 22^nd AGM will build on these efforts, with particular attention to how universities can translate the knowledge and technologies they generate into solutions that improve agricultural productivity, strengthen food security, create employment and enhance livelihoods.

Academic knowledge to practical solutions

The 2026 AGM comes at a time when African universities are increasingly being challenged to demonstrate the relevance of their training and research to the communities and economies they serve. While universities continue to produce graduates and generate scientific knowledge, questions remain about how effectively these investments are contributing to employment creation, agricultural productivity, industrialisation and sustainable development.

The Lusaka meeting will therefore examine how higher education institutions can better align their teaching, research and innovation systems with labour market demands and the changing needs of Africa’s agricultural sector. Discussions will focus on strengthening Africa’s human capital, building resilient and productive economies, harnessing university partnerships for development, and expanding opportunities for capacity sharing to train the next generation.

Particular attention will be given to transformative teaching and learning approaches that equip graduates with practical skills, entrepreneurial competencies and the capacity to develop solutions to real-world challenges. The meeting will also explore the growing role of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and other emerging innovations in reshaping higher education, agricultural research and the future of work. These discussions reflect RUFORUM’s continued commitment to positioning African universities as institutions that not only generate knowledge but also work alongside farmers, communities, governments and industry to ensure that research translates into measurable development outcomes.

Building Africa’s human capital

Human capital development remains one of RUFORUM’s central areas of investment. Since its establishment, the network has supported the training of thousands of African students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, contributing to the development of a new generation of researchers, scientists, academics and agricultural professionals.

Through its collaborative university network, RUFORUM has also promoted opportunities for African students to undertake advanced training within the continent, strengthening institutional capacity and fostering cooperation among African universities. One of its flagship initiatives, the Transforming African Agricultural Universities to Meaningfully Contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development programme (TAGDev), supported by the Mastercard Foundation, seeks to strengthen universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions to deliver inclusive, equitable and climate-resilient agricultural transformation. The programme promotes experiential learning, entrepreneurship, youth employment and stronger engagement between universities, communities and the private sector. Such initiatives demonstrate RUFORUM’s emphasis on ensuring that investments in higher education translate into opportunities for young Africans, particularly women and other groups whose participation in agricultural innovation and enterprise development remains critical to the continent’s future.

As delegates gather in Lusaka, the question of how African universities can produce graduates with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to transform the continent’s economies will remain central to the discussions.

Advancing Africa’s continental development agenda

The 22^nd RUFORUM AGM also comes against the backdrop of renewed continental commitments to education, science, technology, innovation and agricultural transformation. The meeting is aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration and its implementation agenda for 2026–2035, as well as continental efforts to accelerate the transformation of education and skills development. These frameworks recognise the importance of strengthening Africa’s human capital, agricultural productivity, innovation capacity and institutional systems to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. For RUFORUM, the challenge is to ensure that African universities are adequately positioned to contribute to the implementation of these commitments.

The AGM will therefore provide an opportunity for university leaders, governments and development partners to examine how institutional reforms, investments in research, curriculum transformation and stronger partnerships can support the continent’s development priorities. It will also build on commitments made during the 21^st RUFORUM AGM held in Gaborone, Botswana, in 2025, where African universities pledged to strengthen their contribution to higher education transformation, scientific innovation and the generation of solutions for Africa’s development.

Showcasing African research and innovation

Beyond policy dialogue and institutional engagements, the AGM will provide a platform for showcasing agricultural technologies, research outputs, innovations and enterprise models developed by universities and their partners. The exhibition component will highlight practical solutions in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, food systems, agribusiness, value addition, digital agriculture and community-based innovation. It will also create opportunities for young innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs and institutions to demonstrate how scientific knowledge can be translated into technologies, businesses and livelihood opportunities. Through these engagements, RUFORUM seeks to strengthen collaboration among universities, governments, private sector actors and farming communities, while encouraging the adoption and scaling of innovations that address Africa’s agricultural challenges.

Zambia takes centre stage

For Zambia, hosting the 22^nd RUFORUM AGM represents an opportunity to contribute to the continental conversation on the future of agricultural higher education and to strengthen its collaboration with African universities and development partners. The meeting also brings renewed significance to the September 2019 engagement between RUFORUM and the country’s leadership, which helped lay the foundation for Zambia’s hosting of the continental gathering. With preparations underway, Lusaka is set to become a meeting point for African university leaders, policymakers, researchers, innovators and development partners seeking to advance a shared vision of universities as engines of agricultural transformation and economic development. More importantly, the gathering will provide an opportunity to move beyond discussions about the potential of African universities and focus on the practical actions, investments and partnerships needed to realise that potential.

As RUFORUM continues to champion transformative higher agricultural education across Africa, the 22^nd AGM will reinforce a central message that the true value of university education, research and innovation lies not only in the knowledge generated, but in how that knowledge is applied to improve livelihoods, create opportunities and contribute to Africa’s development.

For more information and registration, visit the official 22^nd RUFORUM AGM website: https://agm.ruforum.org/register

From walking through farms and tracing agricultural histories to listening to farmers and engaging communities in dialogue, a two-week field course in Mityana District offered Makerere University doctoral students a profound lesson: meaningful agricultural innovation begins with the people it seeks to serve.

When the classroom moved to Mwera, Mityana

For two weeks, the classroom had no walls. Its lessons were written across coffee and banana gardens, cultivated fields, homesteads and the lived experiences of farming communities in Mityana District. From 4 to 16 October 2026, Mwera Parish and the surrounding villages of Kiwande, Kakindu, Kitiddibuli, Bananze and Kireku became an extended classroom for six doctoral students pursuing a PhD in Agricultural and Rural Innovation under Makerere University‘s Department of Extension and Innovation Studies.

The students were undertaking a field course in Action Research in Agri-food Systems, Innovations and Livelihoods, an academic exercise designed to take learning beyond the university and into the communities whose agricultural realities are often the subject of research, policy and development interventions.

Here, there were no neatly arranged lecture halls or powerpoint presentations to explain every agricultural challenge. Instead, there were landscapes to interpret, farmers with stories to tell, and agricultural practices shaped by generations of experience, adaptation and survival.

Under the guidance of Dr. Richard Miiro, Dr. Sarah Akello and Dr. Moses Okech, the students set out to understand farming systems not simply as combinations of crops and livestock, but as complex relationships between people, natural resources, institutions, markets and livelihoods.

What began as an academic exercise would gradually become something more profound. An encounter with the realities of rural life and a reconsideration of what it truly means to support agricultural innovation.

Reading the landscape, listening to farmers

The first lessons came from the landscape itself. Moving through Mwera, Kakindu, Bananze, Kitiddibuli and neighbouring communities, the students conducted transect walks, observed cropping patterns, examined agroecological conditions and interacted with farming households.

Everywhere they looked, the landscape offered clues about how people made a living.

Coffee and banana gardens stood alongside seasonal crops, livestock enterprises and settlements. The arrangement of farms, the crops under cultivation and the resources available to households reflected decisions shaped by soil conditions, land availability, household resources and market opportunities.

Yet, as the students soon discovered, what was visible on the land told only part of the story. Why did neighbouring households practise agriculture differently, even when they appeared to share similar conditions? How had farming systems changed over time? What influenced farmers’ decisions, and what challenges continued to threaten their livelihoods?

To answer these questions, the students had to do more than observe. They had to listen. Through interviews, historical inquiries and participatory discussions, farmers shared experiences that offered explanations beyond what could be seen in their fields.

Their accounts revealed that agricultural decisions are not always driven by the desire to maximise yields or profits. Sometimes, a farmer’s choice reflects the immediate needs of a household, limited financial resources, available labour, uncertainty about markets, the need to manage risks or lessons accumulated over years of experience. A farming practice that might appear inefficient to an outsider could, when understood through the farmer’s circumstances, represent a deliberate and practical response to uncertainty.

For the doctoral students, these encounters challenged a conventional assumption about agricultural extension, that experts possess knowledge which must simply be transferred to farmers.

The farmers of Mwera were far from passive recipients of information. They were knowledgeable actors, continuously observing, experimenting, adjusting and making decisions within the opportunities and limitations of their circumstances. It became increasingly clear that effective agricultural extension cannot begin with prescribing solutions. It must begin with understanding the people expected to use them.

Understanding the farming system

As the days progressed, the students began connecting what they had observed in the fields with what they were learning from the farmers. They examined the area’s agrarian history, farming practices, resource use and livelihood strategies, seeking to understand not only how agriculture was being practised, but also why farming systems had evolved in particular ways.

Historical accounts helped explain changes in land use, agricultural production and livelihoods. Observations of the landscape revealed differences in farming opportunities, while conversations with households illuminated the social and economic circumstances influencing agricultural decisions.

Therefore, addressing one problem without understanding its relationship to others can result in interventions that appear technically sound but are difficult for farmers to adopt or sustain. The field experience also challenged the tendency to associate agricultural innovation exclusively with new technologies, improved seeds, machinery or modern production techniques.

Innovation, the students learned, can also emerge from changes in how farmers organise themselves, share knowledge, access information, manage resources, respond to risks or collaborate with institutions. Sometimes, the most consequential innovation is not a new technology introduced onto a farm, but a new relationship, an improved way of working together or a better understanding of an existing challenge.

For students, these insights were particularly significant. They reinforced the importance of understanding the wider social, economic and institutional environment within which agricultural decisions are made. They also demonstrated why successful interventions must be relevant to farmers’ circumstances, inclusive of different farming households and sustainable beyond the period of external support.

When researchers returned to the community

After nearly two weeks of walking through farms, observing agricultural practices, conducting interviews and analysing findings, the students returned to the people who had made their learning possible. This time, however, they were not coming to ask questions. They were coming to share what they had learned and, importantly, to find out whether the community agreed with their interpretations.

At Mwera Community Hall, more than 60 community members gathered for a feedback session, among them were farmers who had participated in the fieldwork and shared their experiences with the students. It was a defining moment in the field course.

The students presented their findings on the landscape, agricultural history, farming practices, livelihood strategies and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats identified within the farming systems. But the meeting was not intended to be a one-way presentation of academic findings. Community members were invited to validate the observations, question the interpretations, identify gaps and contribute their own perspectives on the challenges facing agriculture in the area.

The discussions brought familiar concerns to the forefront; declining soil fertility, the rising cost of agricultural inputs, crop suitability, pests and diseases, and access to agricultural services.

Through a participatory prioritisation exercise, pests and diseases emerged as the farmers’ leading concern, followed by limited access to farmer advisory services.

The significance of this outcome went beyond identifying two agricultural challenges. It demonstrated why communities must be involved not only in providing information for research, but also in interpreting findings and determining which problems deserve priority attention. For researchers, a challenge may appear important because of its technical or economic implications. For farmers, its urgency may be shaped by daily experiences, the risks it presents to household livelihoods and their ability to respond.

The feedback session therefore became more than the conclusion of a field course. It was an opportunity for the students to subject their academic interpretations to the knowledge and judgement of the people whose lives those interpretations sought to explain.

In that exchange lay an important distinction between conducting research on communities and conducting research with them. The farmers were not merely sources of data. They were contributors to knowledge generation, participants in validating findings and partners in identifying the challenges that mattered most to them. Yet, even as the discussions drew to a close, a larger question remained: What happens after researchers leave?

Rethinking agricultural extension and innovation

The experience in Mwera offered lessons extending well beyond the requirements of a doctoral field course. For agricultural extension professionals, it raised fundamental questions about how farmers are understood, how agricultural problems are diagnosed and how interventions are designed.

The first lesson was the importance of diagnosis before prescription.

Agricultural interventions cannot be adequately designed without understanding the landscape, its history, the diversity of farming households and the social, economic and institutional relationships that influence their decisions. What works for one farmer may not necessarily work for another, even within the same community. Differences in land ownership, labour availability, financial resources, farming objectives and exposure to risk can significantly influence the suitability of an intervention.

The second lesson concerned the place of farmers in knowledge creation.

Scientific research remains essential to agricultural development, but farmers also possess valuable knowledge acquired through experience, observation and adaptation. Bringing these forms of knowledge together creates opportunities for solutions that are both scientifically informed and grounded in local realities.

The third lesson was that agricultural innovation is rarely the achievement of a single actor.

Farmers, researchers, extension workers, government institutions, markets and other development actors all influence how knowledge is generated, shared and translated into practice. Innovation therefore requires collaboration, coordination and relationships that enable different actors to learn from one another and respond to shared challenges.

Taken together, these lessons challenge agricultural extension professionals to move beyond their traditional role as transmitters of technical knowledge and become facilitators of learning, collaboration and innovation.

They also challenge universities to reflect on the meaning of research impact.

Should the success of agricultural research be measured only by the volume of data collected, academic reports completed and publications produced? Or should it also be assessed by the extent to which research strengthens communities’ capacity to understand and address their own challenges? For institutions such as Makerere University, whose teaching and research are closely connected to national development priorities, this question is particularly relevant. Field-based learning offers an opportunity to connect academic inquiry with the realities of the communities that research ultimately seeks to serve. It also reminds researchers that meaningful engagement requires more than arriving in a community, collecting information and departing with findings. It calls for listening, mutual learning, respect for local knowledge and a willingness to recognise farmers as partners in the search for solutions.

_{By Damali Mukhaye}

Laughter, excitement and renewed hope filled the Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo (MUARIK) on 28^th September 2026, as 50 young people who had previously been left out of employment, education and training opportunities gathered to begin their journey under the Africa Climate Collaborative (ACC) Youth Skilling Program.

The youth, selected from Lwengo, Rakai and Yumbe districts, are the first cohort under the Africa Climate Collaborative Youth Skilling Program at Makerere University, an initiative supported by the Mastercard Foundation.

Speaking during the day two orientation at MUARIK, the Program Director, Prof. Gorettie Nabanoga, said the youth will undergo a 10-week residential training programme at MUARIK, followed by a three-month industrial attachment with various organisations.

The youth will thereafter be assessed by the Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board (UVTAB) and will receive government-recognised certificates upon successful completion of the program.

Prof. Nabanoga told the participants that the program was not designed to benefit them alone, urging them to think about how they would use the skills acquired to transform the lives of others in their communities.

“The bigger question is going to be, who is going to benefit because you came here? Don’t think about yourself. Who else?” Prof Nabanoga asked.

She challenged the youth to see themselves as future trainers who would pass on the knowledge and skills they acquire to other young people once they return to their communities.

“The reason you’re here is for us to skill you so that you can go back and skill others. We call you trainers of trainers,” Prof. Nabanoga said.

She encouraged the participants to approach the training with a learning mindset and focus on the skills they could take back home and use to create opportunities for others.

“As you interact, don’t ask what we are going to teach you. But just ask, what are you going to learn for you to be able to go and impact others? What skill are you picking and taking away for you to be able to impact others?” she said.

The Youth Skilling Program is part of Africa Climate Collaborative’s wider eight-year plan to equip 500 young people with practical skills and opportunities that can contribute to employment, entrepreneurship and community development.

Prof. Nabanoga said the 50 participants in the first cohort represent only a fraction of the program’s wider target and challenged them to set the pace for the cohorts that will follow.

The programme also seeks to create a multiplier effect, with each trained youth expected to share their knowledge and skills with others.

She said the ultimate goal is to see the skills translate into businesses, jobs and further training opportunities for other young people.

A section of youth to be supported to start own businesses

Beyond the initial training, Africa Climate Collaborative plans to support young people with promising innovations to develop and scale their ideas.

Out of the 500-youth targeted, 200 will receive support to develop innovations, while 100 will receive further support to establish and scale enterprises in their communities.

For the first cohort, 20 of the best-performing youth with promising innovations will receive support to grow their businesses, while 10 will receive additional support to accelerate and scale their enterprises.

The youths were urged to embrace innovation and strive to develop solutions that can be replicated and scaled.

“I would want to see that the first cohort give me the biggest number of the good innovations that are scalable,” she said.

The Director MUARIK  Urged Youth to Turn Skills into Enterprises and Jobs

The Director of the Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo (MUARIK), whose remarks were delivered by the Director of the Continuing Agricultural Education Centre (CAEC), Dr Christopher Mawa, said the program would equip young people with practical skills in green entrepreneurship, beginning with the poultry value chain, and described MUARIK as more than a farm but a centre for practical learning, research, innovation and enterprise development.

He encouraged the participants to take advantage of the wider learning opportunities available at the institute, including crop production, livestock enterprises, pasture and feed production, farm mechanisation, value addition, agribusiness and environmental management.

“As you begin your training, I encourage you to regard the whole of MUARIK as your classroom,” he said.

Dr Mawa urged the youth to focus on applying the skills they acquire to create enterprises, employment opportunities and solutions within their communities.

“Do not therefore come here simply to complete a three-month course. Come with the mindset of acquiring skills that you can apply. Ask questions. Observe carefully. Participate actively. Learn from the trainers and from one another. Most importantly, begin to ask yourself: “How can I turn what I am learning here into an enterprise, employment opportunity or solution for my community?”.