Sunday, February 14, 2010
Partners and their Roles
Terms of Reference for the Implementing Partners
The main implementing partner is the RUFORUM Secretariat responsible for overseeing the implementation, facilitating the partnership and reporting to ACP Secretariat. The other partner institutions include the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), The Netherlands, Egerton University (Kenya), Makerere University (Uganda) and the University of Malawi (Malawi). Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA); Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA);Technical Centre for Agriculture Rural Cooperation(CTA); and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The specific roles and responsibilities of each of these partners are described below.
RUFORUM as the Lead Partner
- Overall management of the action, through its existing Governance and Management structures;
- Provide the required financial resources to Partner institutions in accordance with the approved work plan and budget, subject to receipt of funds from EU and other sources;
- Appoint a project leader for linking with partners and others in implementation of THE PROJECT activities;
- Approve reports submitted by partners;
- Facilitate and coordinate activities of the project Action Steering Committee (ASC) including annual planning and review meetings;
- Promote activities of THE PROJECT and link THE PROJECT to other related activities in RUFORUM and among partners regionally and internationally;
- In consultations with partners as deemed necessary, identify and appoint other service providers necessary for implementation of THE PROJECT activities;
- Mobilise additional resources in support of THE PROJECT activities especially for scaling up;
- Monitor implementation of THE PROJECT activities by Partner institutions and any others contracted to implement THE PROJECT activities;
- Arrange for audit of THE PROJECT finances and final evaluation of the project;
- Develop linkages with other ACP-S&T Projects and organize ACP-S&T project meetings;
- Work with partner Universities to coordinate the training support and follow-up for enrolled staff and students and alumni of the programme;
- Organize outcome and impact assessment activities for the project;
- Work with partners to develop an e-learning platform as a repository and support to research and lesson sharing;
- Disseminate learning resources using appropriate media for all stakeholders;
- Report to ACP-S&T, RUFORUM Board, partners and other key stakeholders on activities of the project.
Project Contact Person at RUFORUM Secretariat (Dr Washington Ochola)
- Represent RUFORUM in all the project consultative, planning and working meetings including the inception planning meetings and other sharing fora;
- Develop a project-wide activity schedule including the schedules developed by other partners in all result areas;
- Oversee the documentation by consultant of existing information and resources on capacity and gaps in research methods to guide the development and up-scaling of courses and materials;
- Facilitate and coordinate internal support and communication from RUFORUM Secretariat to the project partners;
- Design and communicate project reporting frameworks and templates to partners;
- Write the interim, annual and final project reports to be submitted to ACP-S&T and other partners;
- Design with partners, update and communicate project work plans and budget plans and coordinate budget accountability and reporting;
- Guide the facilitation, documentation and dissemination of proceedings of any meetings with partners, associate partners and other stakeholders;
- Design and disseminate calls for proposals or expressions of interests for any consultancies and service provision and also lead and report on consultant and service provider selection processes;
- Operationalize the risk management plan and strategy for the project that will be developed in the inception meeting and share with partners;
- Popularize the project among RUFORUM member universities and other stakeholders in the region and beyond;
- Facilitate the ASC meetings and sharing platforms and partner learning platforms for M&E and feedback on research methods training and other THE PROJECT activities;
- Work with associate partners to build linkages with on-going initiates on research methodology capacity building.
Action Steering Committee (ASC)
The role of the ASC is to:
- Oversee and advise on the overall implementation of the project;
- Communicate, publicize and advocate for the project and its activities regionally and internationally;
- Assist and work with the Team Leader at RUFORUM to meet the objectives of the project;
- Design other strategies for resource mobilization and advocacy with other partners;
- Conduct annual participatory review and evaluation of the project and produce guidelines for lesson sharing and feedback learning;
- Meet regularly (electronically and face-to-face) to plan for implementation, budget allocation and review of project activities;
- Participate in the peer review of project reports, training modules, reports from consultants and service providers and proposals by consultants/service providers;
- Contribute to the development of criteria for selection of participants for the training workshops;
- Contribute to the development of criteria for selection of service providers and consultants;
- Organize with RUFORUM Secretariat the regional sharing of experiences;
- Harmonize regional approaches, methods and reports submitted by partner institutions.
Royal Tropical Institute (KIT )
- Support to the project process by showing institutional commitment. This involves participation in selected project workshops and meetings. KIT will contribute to the success of the partnership by enhancing learning.
- Provide methodological support to the tools used for the baseline study, for the stakeholder demand assessment and to the curriculum audit.
- Contribute to the development and fine-tuning of the mid-career course both through annual face-to-face interactions and through distance communication.
- Provide international experiences to enhance the existing graduate curricula to integrate innovation systems thinking
- Provide input to the knowledge network for curriculum development and into the alumni network (participate and suggest candidates)
- Lead the joint development of a framework for action research based on existing experiences of partners and associate partners.
- Provide methodological and technical input in the development of the write-shop methodology and facilitate the meta-analysis write-shop. This implies backstopping to the learning cases.
- Provide support to the e-platform linked to the KIT web-side.
- Report timely to RUFORUM on content and financial progress. Provide input in annual auditing.
- Submit quarterly reports of activities to the RUFORUM Innovation Project Leader
Egerton University, Kenya
- Participate in the inception planning meeting to refine work plans and formalize partnerships.
- Build institutional commitment by identifying and establishing project management team, identifying the housing department for the project, sensitising the university, management, Board of Postgraduate Studies (BPGS), Board of Undergraduate Studies, Directorate of Research & Extension, and relevant academic departments (agricultural-related and environmental science) within the university.
- Design and implement M&E learning framework in accordance with the EU model.
- Conduct annual, mid-term and end of project reviews.
- Establish linkages with other ACP networks and activities.
- Conduct a self annual audit and provide a report to RUFORUM.
- Conduct baseline study through desktop review of university programs and outreach activities in the sensitized departments and Interview stakeholders.
- Conduct an appraisal study and workshop to assess stakeholder demands (private/public sector and NGO’s in agriculture and rural development) and expertise in the participating universities, participating countries, region and globally to fill the skills gap.
- Develop, test and run a part-time post-graduate course on innovation systems and facilitation of innovation based on review of similar short courses.
- Conduct an appraisal study and stakeholders’ workshop to assess opportunities for integration of innovation approach courses in existing technical and social science curricula in the field of agriculture and development of the participating universities.
- Document lessons learnt and share the same with International course Organizers and other partners.
- Develop, test and run two short innovation courses in liaison with agricultural R&D decision makers and practitioners.
- Identify and consult R&D practitioners using AR frameworks to develop an appropriate AR framework for the project.
University of Malawi (Bunda College of Agriculture), Malawi
BCA will establish an Innovations Project Implementation Team (iPIT) comprising three faculty, which will oversee implementation of the project. The team will be led by an Innovations Project Coordinator (iPC) who shall manage the day-to-day activities of the Project. Understanding that Bunda College is a partner in the Innovations Project which is in line with goals of the Malawi Government and Bunda College of ensuring food security in Malawi, the iPIT will undertake the responsibilities that follow:
- The iPIT will hold discussions with BCA Heads of Department, Deans of Faculty and key decision makers at the University level to build institutional commitment and ownership.
- In collaboration with RUFORUM, KIT, Makerere University and Egerton University, the iPIT will monitor and implement the Project using a harmonised M&E framework that will be jointly developed by all partner institutions.
- Bunda College iPIT will conduct a baseline study, mid-term review and end-of-project evaluation based on the harmonised M&E system.
- To facilitate development, implementation and evaluation of curriculum for the PG diploma, mid-career and integration of innovation systems into existing curricula, the iPIT will consult and facilitate identification of opportunities for integration.
- The iPIT will coordinate meetings and workshops to achieve specific Project outputs.
- Through the iPIT, Bunda College of Agriculture will prepare and submit progress and annual reports to RUFORUM in a timely manner.
- Bunda College iPIT will collaborate with other partners in establishing, expanding and maintaining a network of learners and people with professional skills.
- In response to requirements for accountability, Bunda College will ensure that that the project is run on sound financial procedures and will facilitate auditing of project accounts.
- The College will facilitate procurement of goods and services in line with prescribed procurement procedures of the Malawi Government (ODPP) and Project requirements.
- The iPIT will ensure that there is transparency and accountability in the day-to-day operations of the project, including use of project resources within the limits of the intended purposes.
- Bunda College will collaborate with KIT and other partners in developing student action research framework, and oversee its implementation in the mid-career training course.
- The iPIT will collaborate with regional and international Project partners in establishing and maintaining quality controls in all aspects of Project implementation
- Bunda College iPIT will document and analyse lessons from learning cases of the mid-career training course, and share through progress and annual reports, with other Project partners nationally, regionally and internationally
- The College will develop and widely disseminate communication products including public relations materials and their requirements for attracting participants to the courses.
Makerere University, Uganda
Makerere University will be responsible for the following:
- Participate in the inception planning meeting and contribute to the development of a synergized project implementation plan;
- Develop and refine Annual work Plan for 2010
- Build institutional commitment
- Design and implement the M&E learning framework
- Conduct annual, midterm and end of project reviews
- Establish linkages with other ACP networks, activities
- Conduct annual audit
- Conduct baseline study
- Conduct studies to assess stakeholder demands (private/public sector and NGO’s in agriculture and rural development) and expertise in the participating universities, participating countries, region and globally to fill the skills gap
- Conduct awareness meetings, discussions groups with decision makers in Universities
- Develop a database of professional skills linked to a web-based existing database
- Development of an action research framework
- Development of communication products including public relation materials and their requirements for attracting participants to the course.
- Sharing the experience with other universities that are part of the RUFORUM network
Associate Partners
- The Associate partners: Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA); Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA);Technical Centre for Agriculture Rural Cooperation(CTA); and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) will:
- Participate in project activities
- Facilitate knowledge sharing of the Innovation project and other related activities;
- Participate in the production, documentation, adaptation and dissemination of learning resources;
- Link the Innovation proejct with other on-going initiatives in innovation and research for development internationally;
- Participate in the meeting and workshops
- Facilitate other capacity strengthening activities related to the Innovation project
Inception Planning Meeting Participants
Alexander A. Kalimbira (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Malawi. He serves as Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research, who recently coordinated successful implementation of two regional PhD programmes in Malawi. A nutritionist by training, he spearheads innovative engagement of academics with the wider society by presenting a weekly radio programme on Zodiak, one of Malawi’s national radio stations.
Suzanne Nederlof holds an MSc in Rural Development Sociology and a PhD in Communication and Innovation Studies from Wageningen University. She has thirteen years of experience in rural development. She has expertise in the organization of agricultural research; natural resource management and platform thinking; farmer-based organizations and interdisciplinary research. She has professional skills in action-research, participatory approaches, facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes and training. In 2006, Suzanne Nederlof joined KIT as an advisor in farmer organizations and rural innovation.
Willem Heemskerk has worked for 33 years in developing countries, mostly as resident farming systems researcher and client-oriented research management specialist in Eastern and Southern Africa. The last ten years he has been operating from the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in Amsterdam as an adviser and researcher on management and organization of research and advisory service systems. He believes that agricultural development is only possible through effective interactive learning between referred public and private service providers, farmers' organizations and the private entrepreneurial sector. He graduated in Wageningen as a tropical plant breeder, followed the ICRA post-graduate course and worked apart from KIT for FAO, Mozambican Government and Dutch Bilateral Cooperation, as well as frequently for IFAD and World Bank in the last ten years.
Timothy Gondwe, PhD, is an Associate Prof in Animal Breeding and Heads the Department of Animal Science at Bunda College of Agriculture, University of Malawi. My teaching areas include undergraduate and postgraduate breeding, farm animal genetic resources and livestock systems, Biometry at MSc and PhD levels. My research are in breeding strategies to improve pigs, goats, chickens and cattle under prevailing farming systems. My goal is to develop adaptable breeds for a local farmer in Malawi to match prevailing systems and climate changes.'
Washing O. Ochola holds a PhD in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development and an MSc degree in Agricultural Systems Management and Engineering. He is the RUFORUM Programme Manager for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PME). He has wide experience in project management and has published, conducted research and been consulted widely for many local, institutional, national, regional and global processes. He participated in the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) as the Collaborating Lead Author for Chapter 4 – Drivers of Agriculture and Food Systems in both the Global and sub-Saharan Africa reports. He is currently involved in writing a text book on Natural Resource Management for graduate students in SSA and Planet in 2050. He continues to teach and supervise postgraduate students in many regional programmes. He is the INNOVATION project coordinator at the RUFORUM Secretariat where he coordinates the development of a new M&E strategy and system and coordinates other RUFORUM regional projects and programmes.
Prof. Gitonga Nkanata Mburugu (Ph.D.) Kenyatta University, Dean School of Agriculture and Enterprise Development, Department of Agriculture Science and Technology. He is a soil microbiologist by training with interest in low cost macro and micro-propagation also a holder of a postgraduate diploma in Integrated Agricultural Research for Development. Expectation for the project: Improve the learning experiences of Agriculture graduate and postgraduate students and practitioners to make them more versatile graduate in their workplaces.
Dr. Elizabeth Kamau-Mbuthia is the Head of department and a Lecturer in the Department of Human Nutrition. She has a PhD in Natural Sciences (Dr.rer.nat) specialising in Public Health Nutrition from Vienna University (Austria ) and an M.P.H. specialising in Public Health Nutrition from Curtin University of Technology( Western Australia ). Areas of professional interest include Public Health Nutrition, Community Nutrition, Food security, Maternal and Child health and nutrition in the context of HIV/AIDS, Nutritional epidemiology, Nutrition surveys, Nutrition education and promotion. She is also a certified PMTCT counsellor and works as a volunteer with HIV/AIDS support groups and is also trained as a Nutrition leader in the African Nutrition Leadership Program. Has published and made presentations in International conferences in the areas of maternal and child nutrition, infant feeding patterns in the context of HIV, community nutrition and food security. She is also a member of nutritional societies in Kenya
Dr. Charles Masembe Charles Masembe is a lecturer of Population Genetics, Evolutionary Biology, and Cell and Molecular Biology in the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Makerere University”. He has extensive research experience in molecular genetics and veterinary diagnostics, and collaborates with researchers in both developing and developed countries. He is a veterinarian with experience in molecular evolution, population genetics and molecular epidemiology
Dr. David M. Amudavi is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Education and Extension. He has been a Post Doctoral Fellow and a Consultant with The International Centre of Insect Physiology & Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya, working on a project: ‘Creating smallholder led growth through ‘push-pull’ technologies in Eastern Africa: Implementation and dissemination of habitat management strategies while developing appropriate exit strategies.’ Amudavi has been involved in strategic expansion of the technologies in Eastern Africa; and socio-economic studies of alternative technology transfer processes. Amudavi has been involved in consultancies relating to technology transfer and strengthening agricultural extension systems in Sub-Saharan Africa for organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and Farm Africa. Amudavi has a PhD degree majoring in adult and extension education, and with minors in developmental sociology and natural resource management from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York USA.
Dr. Prossy Isubikalu holds a PhD in Social Sciences (Wageningen University, Technology and Agrarian Development) and an MSc in Agricultural Extension and Education (Makerere University). She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Makerere University. Her previous research work has been focussed on understanding farmer interactions with technology as well as analysis of farmer involvement in participatory agricultural extension activities. She is currently a principle investigator of two on-going research projects (one on role of orange fleshed sweet potato in ensuring food security and the other on understanding farmer practices on the persistence of Foot and Mouth Disease in Western Uganda) and a collaborator on a study on understanding farmer practices in managing climate change in Eastern Uganda. She has participated in developing proposals for regional initiatives like the Agriculture and Rural Innovation Studies (ARIS) – a regional PhD programme funded by EDULINK. She is interested in community and rural development related activities as well as organisational change
Dr Bebe Bockline Omedo is MSc and PhD animal science graduate of Wageningen University. He is a senior lecturer in the department of animal sciences, Egerton University, with over 15 years working experience in university teaching and research in livestock systems research, livestock commodity-based value chain development, rural development strategies and epidemiological economics. He has supervised a number of postgraduate students including postdocs from animal science, agricultural extension, livestock economics and Agricultural Information and Communication Management
Prof Christopher A. Onyango, PhD of the Department of Agricultural Education and Extension at Egerton University Onyango teaches under- and postgraduate courses in agricultural extension. He has special interest in international agriculture, rural development, with special emphasis in planning, implementation and M&E. He has been involved in university management, starting at department up to the level of deputy vice chancellor. Currently he coordinates the development of Agriculture and rural Innovations Studies (ARIS) Ph.D. programme at Egerton University
Mr. John A. Kazembe has just completed his Ph.D. in applied Mathematics and is awaiting the wad of the degree. He has an M.Sc. in Tropical Resource Ecology and a Bachelor of Education on Science. He is skilled and interested in ecological modeling and systems analysis; understanding dynamics of semi-arid rangelands in response to climate change; he has strong skills in curriculum development, analysis and implementation especially in the field of sciences. His major contribution to the project could be in the design of the curriculum for innovation.
Agnes Akwang Obua-Ogwal (né Anokbonggo) has a Masters Degree in Agricultural Economics of the University of New England, Australia. She has fifteen years of work experience in agricultural research, and in monitoring and evaluating (M&E) agricultural projects and programmes while working with the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) in Uganda. She is currently the M&E Officer based at the RUFORUM Secretariat. Agnes has experience in planning and implementing new and innovative agricultural programs; strategy development; participatory approaches for planning, implementation, monitoring, quality assurance, and evaluation; design and implementation of various studies including needs assessment and evaluation surveys; training trainers and workshop facilitation; and a working knowledge of procurement for services. Agnes can be contacted at a.akwang@ruforum.org.
Richard Batte, MSc: studied Information Systems at Makerere University; PhD student at the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, same University and currently an Assistant Programme Coordinator, for a Regional PhD programme in Agricultural and Rural Innovation Studies (ARIS) at Makerere University; partnering with international institutions, Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands, Montpellier SupAgro in France, Egerton University in Kenya and Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. Taught, done consultancies and held top administrative positions at University level. Interests lie in systems thinking, analysis and design and modelling especially in natural resources field. Contacts: rbatte25@hotmail.com/richbatte3@aol.com; Tel: +256-782-205214.
For the full list and details of all participants, Please Click Here
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
RUFORUM HOSTS PROJECT INCEPTION PLANNING MEETING
- Shifting from Outreach to Engagement: transforming Universities response to current development trends in agricultural research and training in Eastern, Central and Southern AfricaOUTREACH)
- Poverty reduction and greater food and nutritional security in West Africa, and Eastern and Southern Africa through enhanced conservation and use of neglected and underutilized species (NUS). (BIODIVERSITY)
- Familiarize partners and other stakeholders on the project
- Design comprehensive project management procedures including the specific roles of partner institutions
- Develop project work plans and detailed budget allocation
- Develop a comprehensive implementation plan with project milestones,
- Design project M&E framework and performance management plans
- Identify synergies between the project and other related projects
BRIEF MEETING PROCEEDINGS
DAY 1 (WEDNESDAY 10-02-2010)
The participants in the three meeting held joint opening session where after welcoming and introductions, an opening remark was given by the Regional Coordinator of RUFORM, Prof. Adipala Ekwamu who expressed his gratitude to the participants, their institutions for accepting to partner with RUFORUM and gave glowing tribute to donors, partners and other stakeholders willing to join RUFORUM in its dream of reralizing a vibrant agricultural and rural sector in Africa through various university capacity building initiatives.
A keynote presentation by Per Rudebjer and Dr Pedulosi of Biodiversity Internation on Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) set the scene for understanding of the origins and arationale for the BIODIVERSITY project. In the INNOVATIONS project meeting, participants discussed their institutional perceptions of the project, disccussed after a presentation on the project overview and lessons from similar initiatives under SUCAPRI and the African Challenge Programme, peretinent aspects of the project.
Outputs of day 1:
- Familiarity among partners and participants
- Partner perceptions of their contribution
- Clarity of project aim and details
- Partner roles identified
- Year 1 Partner Work plans
- 3 - year broad work plans
Images from the working sessions
DAY 2 (THURSDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2010)
Working in groups, participants completed the detailed M&E implementation plan. The specific monitotring activities were discussed and clustered according to the criteria for project M&E, namely: relevance, effectiveness, quality, efficiency, financial management, sustainability, communication and knowledge management and impacts. This was done in groups of 4s drawn randomly from different partner institutions. Ideas for operationalizing it and eventually designing the project M&E strategy and simple system based on the framework which was skipped for further completion during the workshop.
The main outputs of Day 2 were:
- Deepened understanding for the project design
- Refined Institutional Annual work plans
- Complete 3 year work plans
- Institutional project budgets
- M&E implementation plan
- Comprehensive ToR for partners
Some Photos from the day's sessions
DAY 3 (FRIDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2010)
The Day in Brief
The participants then worked in their institutional teams to finalize the terms of references by putting down all the responsibilities of the partners. These were also compiled by Agnes into a comprehensive Terms of Reference (ToR) for Implementing Partners. The participants then generated the other remaining elements of the PIP, namely: project communication strategy, project risk management strategy and refined the M&E and project impact pathways in a discussion. The final project impact pathway will be based on the presentation by Willem and the processes shared with p[partners and an accompanying framework designed by Dr Washington Ochola for inclusion in the final PIP.
Highlights of Way forward Discussions
- For effective communication all the outputs of the workshop will be synthesized and then sent to partner email addresses, the project blog and other communication channels
- Other platforms will also be developed for further communication
- Immediate disbursement of funds and so partners need to liaise with RUFORUM for any LoAs and contracts and other institutional matters
- Respect for reporting schedule
- Universities to constitute teams to steer implementation
- RUFORUM will report to ACP Secretariat while partners will report to RUFORUM. Any regulations and deadlines will be communicated accordingly.
The participants then joined the partners for the other two ACP-S&T projects for a final plenary session where the two projects reported the status of their PIP, final remarks were made and the Regional Coordinator of RUFORUM Prof. Adipala Ekwamu gave his closing remarks. In his remarks, Prof Adipala reiterated RUFORUM’s dream for universities in Africa, thanked the participants for their role in this and for diligently helping RUFORUM, through this three projects to deliver this dream.
Project Documentation
1. Project Summary
2. Project Concept Note
3. Detailed Implementation Plan
4. Report of the Inception Planning Meeting
5. ACP-S&T Reporting Regulations
6. RUFORUM Reporting Guidelines
7. Partner Progress Reports
About The Project
CONTRIBUTING TO AND FACILITATING AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL INNOVATION PROCESSES
Agricultural research for development (AR4D) contributes to poverty reduction through innovative application of new and existing knowledge and practices, thus creating new knowledge for development and social transformation. Agricultural innovation systems (AIS) framework presents a broad, inclusive, and more holistic means to strengthening capacity for creation, diffusion and application of knowledge. If embraced by universities, the effect on quality of graduates would be immense.
The project targets enhancement of capacity for institutional innovation which is still very limited amongst universities in Eastern and Southern Africa at individual, organizational and institutional level in order to improve the contribution of agricultural practitioners towards innovation for rural development. Formal degree training in agricultural sciences in SSA universities is largely discipline based and focused on the development of research skills and discipline bound approaches. The interventions inculcate skills that would enable application of knowledge gained from Science and Technology (S&T).
The action primarily responds to Millennium Development Goal 1 to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 and is in lone with the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and specifically to CAADP Pillar 4 being implemented by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) under the principles encapsulated in the Framework for African Agricultural Productivity(FAAP).
The Project is Coordinated by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). It is funded by a grant from the European Union's ACP-S&T Programme. The ACP Science and Technology Pro¬gramme is an ACP-EU co-operation pro-gramme launched in June 2008 that funds partnership projects through an open Call for Project Proposals. Its overall objective is to support African, Caribbean and Pacific coun¬tries in formulating and implementing science and technology (S&T) policies that can lead to sustainable development and to poverty reduc¬tion through economic growth and progressive integration in the world economy. It specifically aims at strengthening the internal S&T capacity of ACP countries to support research, development and innovation in the ACP region at three levels: (1) Institutional, administrative and policy making; (2) Academic research and technology; and (3) Business and civil society.
The programme promotes interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development by co-ordination and networking in applied research;, instruments for collaborative research, and management of research activities and reinforcement of research. The programme targets the creation or consolidation of sustainable networks at intra ACP-level with linkages to international networks; increased capacity to assess research needs to facilitate the formulation and implementation of research policies; increased capacity and incentives to research network partners to prepare and submit project proposals to funding agencies, including for example the EC’s ‘Seventh Framework Pro¬gramme for research and technology development’ (FP7); research results better capitalized and disseminated; and improved quality of research results.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Overall Objective
Contribute towards poverty reduction in rural areas through strengthening of national and regional capacities to contribute to and facilitate innovation processes for rural development in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Specific Objectives
1. Enhance partnerships for effective networking & institutional change management;
2. Establish and implement a part-time mid-career professional training course on the facilitation of agricultural innovation processes;
3. Strengthen innovation capacity of university graduates for IAR4D;
4. Build cross-disciplinary networks of expertise on the role of agricultural research in facilitating rural innovation; and,
5. Share lessons learnt on the mid-career professional training course and innovation curricula.
TARGET GROUPS
The project aims to benefit a number of groups with the following specifically targeted:
Graduate students to be trained to prepare them better for the demands of post-graduate work in the field of AR4D..
Mid-career professionals in the field of agricultural research and development to enroll in the mid-career professional training course on innovation for rural development.
A variety of stakeholder representatives and other end-users to benefit from facilitation by trainers from the mid-career short courses
The participating universities will benefit by improving their knowledge in the field of innovation for rural development thereby forming part of the expert network. RUFORUM itself will be strengthened through the process and recognized as an important actors in the field.
Smallholder farmers and producers as the ultimate beneficiaries gaining from more effective and better poverty focused agricultural advisory services.
Professionals and experts in the field of agriculture will benefit from information sharing and lesson learning as a result of the formation of the regional network.
FUNDING
This 36 month project that begun on the 9/11/2009 is funded by the African, Caribbean and Pacific-Science and Technology (ACP-S&T) Programme of the EU with a grant toalloing EURO 997,957.00. RUFORUM and Prtner contributions amount to EURO 176,110.00.
PROJECT PARTNERS
Implementing Partners
• RUFORUM
• Egerton University (Kenya),
• Makerere University (Uganda)
• University of Malawi (Bunda College of Agriculture), Malawi,
• Royal Tropical Institute - KIT (Netherlands)
Associate Partners
• Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA),
• Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA);
• Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA)
RESULTS AND DELIVERABLES
The project ultimately aims to realize innovation systems thinking mainstreaming for an improved understanding and use of such approaches within disciplinary academic training and a course on the facilitation of innovation for rural development mainstreamed in the universities.
It will put in place:
1. Partnerships for effective networking & institutional change management enhanced;
2. Courses on innovation approaches developed and integrated in graduate training of participating universities;
3. A part-time mid-career training course on agricultural innovation processes tested and running independently of project financing;
4. An international network of experts in the field of agricultural innovation facilitation created and expanding;
5. Experiences with the facilitation of innovation for rural development documented and analysed
6. A strategy for mentoring agricultural innovation facilitators developed, tested and refined.
For More Information Please Contact:
PROJECT COORDINATION/RUFORUM SECRETARIAT
Dr Washington O. Ochola
Project Coordinator/Programme Manager – PME
Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agricultural (RUFRORUM)
Plot 151 Garden Hill, Makerere University, Main Campus
P.O. Box 7062, Kampala – Uganda
TeL: +256-414-535939
Fax: +256-414-531645
E-mail: secretariat@ruforum.org OR w.ochola@ruforum.org OR babatamara@yahoo.com
URL: http://www.ruforum.org
OR
ACP Science and Technology Programme
Avenue Georges Henri 451
1200 Bruxelles
Tel: +32-2-743 06 00 - 16
Fax: +32-2-735 55 73
E-mail: info@acp.int
Website:www.acp-st.eu