PLACING AGRICULTURAL TERTIARY EDUCATION IN THE

POLICY AGENDA

ByQand’elihle G. S. N. Simelane, PhD

Musa M. A. Dube, PhDSenior Lecturer

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION & EXTENSIONUNIVERSITY OF SWAZILANDFACULTY OF AGRICULTURE

A paper presented at the Ministerial Conference on Agriculture in Africaheld from 13-19 November 2010 in Kampala, Uganda

BACKGROUND

• In Africa, over 70% of the people live in the rural areas and most of these derive livelihoods from agriculture, and poverty is widespread (World Bank, 2010).

• Many countries do not adhere to the 10% budget allocation according to the Maputo Declaration

• Africa holds 60% of the world’s uncultivated land with the potential, to increase yields by more than three fold by 2030.

• Africa faces formidable challenges, such as HIV/AIDS, conflict, and climate change associated with endemic food insecurity.

Economic Significance of the Agricultural Sector

Agriculture represents 50-60% of the total economy in some countries, (Guinea Bissau, Ethiopia and Central Africa) and 20-40% in sub Saharan Africa

Agriculture contributes: ≥40% of exports 30% of GDP ≤ 30% of foreign exchange earnings 70 to 80% of employment

WHY AFRICAN FARMERS FAIL

Heated debate on the web, triggered by an article in the Southern Times and of the same title as above.Many blame farmers for failing to apply modern farming techniques, hence the poor yields and failure by African countries to feed their citizens.Food and agricultural experts attribute failure to lack of investment in the agriculture sector.There is a disconnect between research agenda and public interest.Researchers, policy makers and practioners have different values and dynamics, and handle evidence in different ways.

PLACING AGRICULTURAL TERTIARY EDUCATION

• Tertiary education provides high level knowledge workers and research based knowledge essential for knowledge driven growth.

• Results from agricultural research must inform and shape policies and programmes, and be adopted into practice for the research to guarantee agricultural development in the continent.

• Considerable social and economic development can accrue from investment in knowledge, especially science and technology.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR PLACING AGRICULTURAL TERTIARY

EDUCATION• The Curriculum Review Process• Integration of Entrepreneurial Training• Integration of ICT in Agriculture Training• Monitoring and Evaluation• Staff Recruitment and Training• Exploitation of University Human Resources• Funding of Agricultural Tertiary Institutions• Appreciate the emergence of private universities• Strategic plan for staff development

1. THE CURRICULUM REVIEW PROCESS

Curriculum design and development needs to respond to the needs of agriculture clientele, in terms of relevance and timeliness

Target globalisation of the curriculum Aim at attaining a balance between theory and

practical exercises Diversify learning experiences through classroom

lessons and internships; field classes or field attachment

2. ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING

• Agriculture is a business; hence, university training needs to expose graduates to self employment and agribusiness skills.

• Entrepreneurial skills vital to enhance the abilities of farmers to recognize and evaluate new opportunities and to use farm based resources in the exploitation of new, often non-agricultural markets.

• Graduate unemployment, and underemployment, represent wasteful expenditure of scarce resources.

• Both graduate unemployment, and underemployment are devastating phenomena in the lives of graduates, and are definite indicators of institutional ineffectiveness and inefficiency.

3. ICT IN AGRICULTURE TRAINING

Information and Communication Technology applied for processing, exchanging and managing data, information and knowledge.Main applications of ICT in Agriculture include:Application of office automationApplication of Knowledge Management SystemApplication of E-commerce and E-learningApplication of ICT for managing Agricultural Resources and ServicesApplication of CAD and CAMApplication of Wireless TechnologiesApplication of GPS and GISApplication of Computer controlled devices (Automated systems)

4. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Necessary to ensure and insure quality control (quality assurance)

Must consider curriculum relevance and effectiveness

Employment statistics hence are vital to the evaluation of university training

5. STAFF RECRUITMENT

• Identify vacancy• Prepare job description and person specification• Advertising the vacancy• Managing the response• Short-listing• Arrange interviews• Conducting interview and decision making

Objectives• obtaining the number and quality of

employees that can be selected in order to help the organisation to achieve its goals and objectives.

• creating a pool of prospective employees for the organisation, at minimum cost

• creating the competitive strength and the recruitment strategic advantage for the organisations

Stages in the recruitment process

6. EXPLOITATION OF UNIVERSITY HUMAN RESOURCES

Universities have a pool or reservoir of experts in diverse fields, with a repertoire of unique expertise, skills and experience.Develop and maintain linkages with industryLinks to industry help enrich classroom instruction and are necessary to inform formative curriculum evaluation and hence instruct curriculum reform.

7. FUNDING OF AGRICULTURAL TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

The per capita cost of tertiary education is generally high.Investment in this sector often benefits a few.Funding is necessary for facilities and equipment; instructional materials; infrastructure development; monitoring new programmes and scholarships, as well as research grants.

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Can we bridge the Can we bridge the technological divide?technological divide?

Global expenditure on R&D, 2000 (UNESCO)

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Source of R&D funds (%)Europe: Strong business investment, yet public mistrust of outcomes

Can Africa emulate Asia? Speed of tech. change traps countries in low growth

Foreign direct investment alone cannot drive development(UN Millennium Project 2005)

Huge support need in linking innovation & enterprise development

Economic development: Economic development: Knowledge transformed into goods & Knowledge transformed into goods &

servicesservices

8. THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITIES

Universities perform three essential functions; teaching, research and extension/ community outreach.There is an increasingly powerful expectation that rigorous, replicable, relevant, and independent research should make an important contribution to the evidence base for action/ policy

Evidence based policy and practice

Opinion based policy and practice

After Muir Gray (1997)

9. THE EMERGENCE OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Have an agenda that is at variance with and therefore not the same or similar to that of traditional/public universitiesPrivate universities are profit driven hence dissimilar to the traditional/public universitiesDevelopment necessitates policy interventions may address the following issues:

What is a university?

Who should teach at the university (qualification and performance standards)?

What standards are to be expected of a university?

Peer review mechanisms for lecturing staff

10. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Guided by student and job market needs, and based on results of a research/teaching staff assessment or peer review exercise

Innovation necessary to localise assessment exercise to recognise the extension and community outreach role of academics.

Progress depends on much more than enabling farmers to increase output and establishing a stable economy.The role of the state will be essential – directly, through agricultural research and development, but also indirectly. Research scientists and academicians target patents, copyrights and publications in esteemed international journals but not matters of national and public interest

CONCLUSIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

The paper calls for policy initiatives, interventions and investments in research that targets:

Technology robust evidence for effective policy making

Agricultural research that will inform and shape policies and agricultural development programmes

Development of appropriate low cost technologies to stimulate agricultural production

Overcoming the innovation barriers – why isn’t science of greater value in

development?

• Because we over-institutionalize innovation and fail to reconcile scientific and societal trust systems

• Because we under-resource pro-poor scientific applications and innovation flows/brokerage

• Because ‘northern’ models & institutions shape, dictate and distort ‘southern’ needs & processes

• Because we create science-based rules & standards that further disenfranchise the poorest

How can we bridge the innovation domains?

• Community-centred, not technology-centred thinking

• Innovative knowledge access & transformation systems

• Stakeholders learning & innovating together, managing benefits & risks

• Institutional reorientation & changed attitudes/values

• Convergence of R&D, education and business policies and resources