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SASAKAWA AFRICA FUND FOR EXTENSION

EDUCATION (SAFE)

2011 Annual Report

Presented to the Board of Directors

Bamako, Mali

November, 2011

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Outline

1. Introduction

2. Achievements

3. Challenges/means for improvement

4. Conclusion

5. Plan for 2012

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Introduction

The main highlight of the academic year 2010-2011 was the development, review and revision

of the curricula and modules along the agricultural value chain both for regular and distance

learning programs. Almost all partner universities and colleges have made tremendous efforts in

this regard during the year. The results of those efforts are very encouraging and indicate a

good prospect for a new perspective in our educational programs.

The academic year has also witnessed an expansion in our programs. New universities have

joined the group of SAFE partner institutions. Students’ performance is good and encouraging.

However, a lot still remain to be done in order to adequately address the challenges ahead.

Achievements

A. SAFE programs in SG2000 Focus Countries

1. Ethiopia

Development of Value Chain – oriented curriculum

A value chain-oriented curriculum for Ethiopia was developed and its implementation has

started in October, 2011 at Bahir Dar and Hawassa universities. The revised curriculum was a

result of a long process that involved a three-day national workshop involving stakeholder

representatives; a national need assessment survey covering employer representatives,

frontline extension workers and farmers. Those activities were followed by the preparation of

draft curriculum proposal; review of the proposed curriculum by an independent reviewer; a

three-day national stakeholder validation workshop and, the finalization of the curriculum

proposal by an inter-university panel of experts.

In coming up with courses and course content, the panel was guided by two major

considerations. First, the choices were made strictly with the target group – the smallholder

farmers and pastoralists – in mind. Critical consideration was made to scale down sophisticated

theories and concepts that were marginally useful for practical extension work. The second

major consideration was the value chain orientation. Since opportunities, constraints and

challenges along value chain are commodity specific, the courses were designed along

commodity value chains.

Value chain training for stakeholders

Participants of the national stakeholder validation workshop received one day orientation

training on the ‘agricultural value chain concept’ led by two lecturers from the University of

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Cape Coast in Ghana. The seminar had considerable impact in raising awareness and there was a

request for developing ‘champions’ of the concept at each of the universities in Ethiopia.

Production of farmer level training modules

We have engaged university instructors to write farmer level training modules on 14 important

topics that have been identified through field surveys under Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

project for Ethiopia. It is anticipated to produce simple and practical booklets from those

modules on a range of commodity value chains and other important topics. Once the modules

are ready, plans are that the module writers will train trainers.

Bahir Dar University

The university held a very successful pre-launching stakeholder workshop to get all the

stakeholders on board and ready for the program. The Ahmara region where the university is

located is very keen to enter into partnership with the university – and has already expressed

concern that the proposed intake of 30 per class is a ‘drop in the ocean’ given that the region

has over 10,000 diploma holders. The region currently has a dynamic and interested leadership.

Haramaya University

Twenty five 25 students (all men) graduated in July 2011 – two of them graduated with Great

Distinction while eight graduated with Distinction. The program has therefore completed 13 full

cycles – and it is still going strong.

The level of enrolment continues to be good and encouraging. The enrolment of women

students picked up significantly for the 15th intake group (23 men and 10 women). This was due

to a concerted effort by both SAFE and the university to get more women into the program.

Hawassa University

The third group of 32 students graduated in July 2011. As in the previous year, one of the

graduating students was actually the best student in the Faculty of Agriculture and deserved a

gold medal award. However, the university could not give him the award because of the credit

hours of the mid-career program which are less than the regular programs which take longer to

complete (3years) as opposed to the mid-career program which takes two and half years. Nine

and seven students graduated with a distinction in 2010 and 2011 respectively. These were both

very good results indeed.

The enrolment reached a new pick of 38 students who included 2 women – reflecting the

continued demand for the program in Ethiopia. The ideal intake for this staff-intensive program

is 30.

A successful SEPs workshop was held in January 2011 where students received combined

feedback from the staff and SG2000 representatives. Several of the students’ projects were

directly linked to SG2000 work as a result of the guest lectures given by SG2000 staff during the

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year. The general observation was that the projects tended to focus more on crops with very

little work done on livestock and value addition.

Mekelle University

Whereas we (SAFE) were planning to launch the program at Mekelle in 2012, the university has

decided to launch it the coming academic year (October, 2011) using its own resources. This is a

success story worth celebrating. Other universities should also be encouraged to emulate this

example rather than waiting until SAFE provides resources to kick-start the program.

Mekelle held a successful pre-launching sensitization workshop to bring all the implementers on

board. Tigray Region pledged to supply the first group of students. The workshop was attended

by Mekelle teaching staff and top management, representatives from Bahir Dar (2), Haramaya

(3) and Hawassa (2) univerisities and theTigray Regional Bureau of Agriculture.

2. Uganda

Makerere University

Status of the distance version of the program

We have resumed the development/writing of modules that had stalled due to the slow process

of approving the BARI-External proposal. We held two training workshops for the second group

of module writers during the first half of 2011.

Unfortunately, the university has again missed the target for launching the program this coming

year (starting October 2011). They now argue that they want all the instructional materials in

place before the program can be launched. Whereas we have been developing the materials for

one semester at a time due to limited funds, we have now decided to contract module writers

for all the remaining courses as a way of expediting the process if the new 2012 deadline is to be

met. There are possibilities that the College of Agriculture might also be able to raise a portion

of the financial resources required.

3. Nigeria

Mainstreaming the value chain concept into the curricula

The main highlight during the academic year 2010-2011 was the efforts made towards revising

and developing curricula along the agricultural value chain concept. In this regard, Ahmadu

Bello University and Bayero University-Kano have jointly developed the content of the value

chain. The new programs at the University of Ilorin and Adamawa State University have

developed their curricula along the value chain as well.

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The two new universities will join the current management committee composed of Ahmadu

Bello and Bayero universities. Lecturers have really embraced the value chain concept and are

keen to teach it.

New Programs

Two universities, namely, University of Ilorin and Adamawa State University have joined the

SAFE initiative starting October, 2011. They offer B.Sc. in “Agricultural Extension and

Community Development” and B.Sc. in “Agricultural Extension and Innovations”, respectively.

Both curricula were validated at the stakeholder workshops and subsequently approved by the

two universities. The two curricula are specialized programs, value chain oriented, with options

for specialization. They are structured as follows:

Three semesters for general courses;

Two semesters for specialization; and

One semester for Supervised Enterprise Projects (SEPs).

New partnership model “Cost sharing model” in Nigeria Following the meeting between SAA/SAFE and the State Governors of Northern Nigeria to

explore ways of partnering, Adamawa State and SAFE have signed an MOU in this respect. The

two parties agreed to share (Adamawa State: 55% and SAFE: 45%) the cost of implementing the

new B.Sc. program at Adamawa State University. The Government of Adamawa State has

already released its counter-part contribution of US$134,000 for four years. SAFE also released

its contribution for program activities in 2011. A committee was set up to manage the activities

of the program with representatives from the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of

Agriculture at state level, the Faculty of Agriculture at the university, and the SAFE program.

The SAFE program at Adamawa State University is expected to improve the intake of mid-career

extension professionals in Adamawa, Gombe, Bornou, Jigawa States - and other states in its

catchment area in the Northern Eastern part of Nigeria. The start of the program at the

University of Ilorin will improve intake in the middle belt, South East and South Western parts of

Nigeria.

Use of SEPs as a field level problem solving tool In Nigeria, like in the other SAA focus countries, the module and training material development

is undertaken at two levels - field level for(extension agents, subject matter specialists and

farners) and university level for formal training of mid-career extension professionals. At field

level, Bayero University Kano (BUK) is currently collaborating with SG 2000 staff to identify

thematic areas for field level training material development for the Jigawa State ADP

(Agricultural Development Program). Adamawa state University is doing the same for Adamawa

state ADP.

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Through the state counterpart fund, SG 2000 intends to finance SEPs projects of the final year

students at BUK and ABU from Adamawa and Jigawa States.

Subsequently, SG 2000 plans to involve mid-career students in their various demonstrations and

needs assessments through SEPs.

4. Mali Like other SAFE programs in other countries, the program in Mali focused on the curriculum

review and revision along the value chain. The SAFE programs in Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin

are jointly developing modules for the distance learning system. The Francophone system of

tertiary education has been changed and most universities have adopted the LMD (Licence,

Maitrise, Doctorat). SAFE has encouraged the programs in Francophone countries to closely

work together, create and sustain synergy. They are doing it well. The program has organized

several training sessions on agricultural value chain for graduates who have not had this

opportunity during their past studies due lack value chain concept in the previous curricula. The

Diploma program at Samanko will be weaned at the end of December 2012.

Despite of the fact that SAFE has terminated its direct financial assistance to the university, the

program is sustaining itself through local resources. The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of

Livestock and Fisheries and Farmers Permanent Assembly are the main contributors towards

the implementation of the Supervised Enterprise Projects (SEPs). Mali hosted a technical

workshop focused on agricultural value chain and its mainstreaming in into the curricula for

West Africa Francophone countries.

B. Programs in non-SG2000 Focus Countries

Ghana

University of Cape Coast (UCC) and Kwadaso Agricultural College (Ghana) A very interesting outreach program started between Kwadaso Agricultural College and Afram

Plains District. The District is currently implementing a project called “Afram Plain District

Agricultural Project” financed by African Development Bank (ADB). The project seeks to

increase agricultural output and household income of the beneficiaries. One of the specific

objectives of the project is to upgrade the professional knowledge and technical skills of the

extension staff involved in the implementation in order to enhance an effective extension

delivery to the beneficiaries. The project has contracted the college to conduct an off campus

training of its staff leading to diploma. All the courses are delivered at the office premises of the

District. Arrangement was made to transport the lecturers from the college campus to the

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district to deliver the courses. The fees paid to the college is US22,000.00 pear year. The

decision for contracting Kwadaso College was made on the basis of the good performance of

Kwadaso’s graduates observed from the field.

The University of Cape Coast UCC) continues with strong commitment its mentoring role of

Kwadaso College. Sixty five percent (65%) of the intake at UCC come from Kwadaso College

diploma holders. UCC as the pioneer institution remains committed to continue to play its role

model to other institutions. Lecturers from UCC are very active in all SAFE activities across

countries. They avail themselves to share their experiences with lecturers of new programs as

well as to train them in their areas of specialty.

University of Abomey Calavi (Benin) The regular program at the university was weaned at the end of December 2010. However, the

university has taken the lead in developing and implementing the distance learning program for

mid-career professionals. The program started this year.

Sokoine University (Tanzania) As announced last year, Sokoine University has launched a B.Sc. degree in “Applied Agricultural

Extension” program solely for mid-career extension professionals. This is a very good outcome

as it took long to convince the university to have a separate program for mid-career extension

agents. The university is now preparing to embark on the distance learning program in order to

respond to the high demand of the mid-career program in the country.

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Regional Activities

Workshops The main highlight of the year in the regional activities was a very successful networking

workshop for East Africa Region held in Malawi in September, 2011. The workshop theme was

“Agricultural value chain-oriented curricula and broadening access to training”. The objectives

of the workshop were to:

Share ideas and experiences on mainstreaming the value chain concept in the B.Sc.

program for mid-career extension professionals.

Share ideas and experiences on the use of modes of delivery that broaden access to

agricultural training.

Establish a common understanding of the off-campus practical experiential learning

component of the SAFE-supported program for mid-career extension professionals.

The workshop was attended by participants from partner universities and ministries of

agriculture. Delegates from the ministries of agriculture presented papers covering: current and

immerging staff development needs in agricultural value chain extension; how they have been

responding to those needs; challenges of coping with extension staff development needs; and,

their expectations from universities regarding their extension staff development needs.

Those from universities presented papers covering: their progress toward value chain-oriented

curriculum for the mid-career program; and, their plans for broadening access to agricultural

training through other modes of delivery. .

The workshop revealed strong ‘meeting of minds’ on all the major issues. It revealed that:

1. Employers and universities have embraced the value chain concept – and some have

already begun to mainstream it into their curricula.

2. Employers and universities have embraced the idea of broadening access to the mid-

career program through distance learning modes of delivery.

It was advised to start small to give ourselves time to develop experience.

3. Employers and universities have embraced the use of ICT

4. Participant’s understanding of SEPs was greatly enhanced, and reports indicated that

SEPs presented opportunities for improvement in other programs. SEPs are being

adopted/adapted in other university programs.

Another workshop was organized in Mali (September, 2011) for Francophone institutions to

discuss the possible synergies in developing distance education. It was attended by

representatives from the universities, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Livestock, Ministry of

Water and Forestry, Ministry of Civil Services, Alumni Associations.

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Alumni Associations

The graduates of the mid-career program at Bunda College (Malawi) had their first congress

where they constituted themselves into an Alumni Association with a committee of nine

members. The key objectives of the association are to provide a platform for mid-career

graduates where they will share their experiences; and, to provide a platform for graduates to

participate in any way that will advance the ideals of the mid-career program in Malawi. A

strong desire was expressed for a professional association but, the meeting was informed that

there was another initiative on this to form a broad-based platform for all in agricultural

advisory services in the country. This initiative was being spearheaded by both Bunda College

and the Extension Services Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Haramaya alumni association was officially launched as a legal entity following its official

registration with the Ministry of Justice. The launching was done at a workshop held in Addis

Ababa on 22 February, 2011. The launching workshop was opened by the Minister of Tourism

and Culture, Amin Abdulkadir, himself a graduate of the mid-career program at Haramaya

University.

The same workshop saw the establishment of a long awaited professional society – thanks to

the leadership of the president of the university, Prof Belay Kassa. The name of the society is

Ethiopian Society of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension. The society has already been

registered as a legal body and has since been represented at the pan-African Forum for

Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) symposium in Accra, Ghana.

Similarly, the Alumni Associations are developing and gradually maturing in West Africa. They have increased the publicity and profile of the program through their publications and annual meetings. Members of the associations have also helped to supervise SEPs projects of students in various regions thereby making supervision less strenuous for lecturers and employers. Specifically, at country level, the following activities were conducted:

Ghana: News letter produced, congress organized, and the association is in the process to be registered as legal entity. Bukina Faso: Graduates are preparing to have their first assembly. Mali: The following activities were implemented:

Two conferences were organized on: o Experience in Agricultural Extension

Training of members on value chain approach. Newsletters: Three editions were realized by the Alumni Associations from Benin,

Burkina Faso, and Mali. o 01: Gender and Leadership o 02: Extension, and o 03: Association Management

Benin: The Alumni Association was officially launched and its legal registration is in process.

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Nigeria: The Bayero University - Kano Alumni Association chapter was launched and the news

letter was completed.

Challenges and means for improvement

Challenges faced by African universities and colleges call for concerted efforts and the political

will on the part of the governments. Governments should pay due attention to university

education. Budgets allocated to tertiary education are extremely low. Salaries and benefits of

lecturers are not attractive; coupled with poor working conditions resulting in low morale. This

unfavorable political environment negatively impacts university training programs, including

the SAFE program.

The challenges faced by the SAFE programs are the following.

Limited access to the current full-time time residential programs, especially for women

extension professionals and staff of private sector.

Limited budget at most universities and colleges does not allow adequate allocation of

fund for resource intensive programs like SAFE programs.

Low level of female intake in the programs.

Low number of qualified female faculty members.

How to redress the situation? SAFE and its partner institutions are trying to address the issue

of limited access to the programs through the use of alternative modes of delivery (distance

education, part time courses, summer vacations, etc). With respect to the low female intake

into the programs, broadening the admission criteria and the use of alternative modes of

delivery can significantly improve the situation. Additionally, the establishment of a scholarship

scheme can greatly contribute to redress the situation. We have seen this case in Ethiopia,

where female intake at Haramaya University increased significantly when Winrock International

made available individual scholarships female candidates. The same applies for female faculty

members. Every year SAFE tries to award few scholarships to female lecturers depending on the

availability of funds. The issue of limited budget allocated to universities is beyond our control

and one can only hope that the leadership in the countries will one day realize the importance

of having a strong and effective tertiary education, especially training in agriculture.

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Conclusion

The academic year 2010-2011 was a transition period for the SAFE initiative. The curricula of

SAFE programs focus more on production agriculture and very little on post-production

agriculture so far. Issues of value chain were neglected. The change has become necessary in

order to redress the situation. For the past two years SAFE and its partner institutions have

vigorously undertaken the development of new curricula and the revision of the existing ones

along the agricultural value. Moreover, the universities and colleges have embraced the idea of

using the alternative modes of course delivery.

Plan for 2012

Start assistance to the new B.Sc. degree program at Mekele University in Ethiopia

Launch the distance learning version of the mid-career program at Haramaya, Hawasa

and Makerere Universities

Conduct a tracer study at Hawasa University (Ethiopia) and Bayero University (Nigeria)

Organize the evaluation of the Supervised Enterprise Projects (SEPs) through post

graduate students’ thesis

Conduct farmer level impact assessment in Nigeria

Train lecturers on the alternative modes of course delivery

Develop modules for distance learning programs

Mainstream the value chain concept in the curricula

Develop, in collaboration with SG2000,field level training materials for farmers, front

line extension staff and subject matter specialists (SMS)

Organize the regional workshop for West Africa institutions

Organize professional exchange visits for lecturers

Provide assistance to new alumni associations

Provide scholarship support to six continuing and two new lecturers

Wean two regular programs at Hawasa University (Ethiopia) and Samanko College (Mali)

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Annexes

Annex I. Statistics of SAFE Students from 1993 to 2011

SAFE Program Universities/Colleges and Countries

Graduated Current Total

Male Female Total Male Female Total

University of Cape Coast, Ghana (B.Sc.) 312 85 397 41 11 52 449

Kawadaso Agric. College, Ghana (Dip) 385 77 462 45 6 51 513

Haramaya, Ethiopia (B.Sc.) 315 49 364 50 13 63 427

Hawasa, Ethiopia (B.Sc.) 67 14 81 70 3 73 154

Makerere, Uganda (B.Sc.) 112 72 184 75 36 111 295

Sokoine, Tanzania (B.Sc.) 383 117 500 260 79 339 839

IPR/IFRA, Mali (Maîtrise) 94 15 109 68 7 75 184

Samanko Centre, Mali (Dip) 58 19 77 39 14 53 130

Ahmadu Bello, Nigeria (B.Sc.) 78 10 88 43 6 49 137

Bayero University, Nigeria (B.Sc) 30 2 32 92 5 97 129

Abomey-Calavi, Benin (B.Sc.) 73 8 81 25 5 30 111

Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso (B.Sc.) 29 8 37 31 5 36 73

Bunda College, Malawi (B.Sc.) 29 10 39 18 5 23 62

SUB-TOTAL 1,965 486 2,451 857 195 1,052 3,503

SCHOLARSHIPS Graduated Current

Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Diploma 6 - 6 - - 0 6

B.Sc. 29 3 32 - - 0 32

M.Sc. 51 8 59 2 - 2 61

PhD 4 1 5 - 4 4 9

SUB-TOTAL 90 12 102 2 4 6 108

GRADN TOTAL 2,055 498 2,553 859 199 1,058 3,611

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Annex II. Participating Countries

16 Programs universities and colleges in 9 Countries

1. Ethiopia = Haramaya University, Hawasa University, Bahir Dar University, Mekele

Univeraity

2. Uganda = Makerere University

3. Nigeria = Ahmadu Bello University, Bayero University, Illorin University, Adamawa State

University

4. Mali = IPR/IFRA, Samanko Agricultural College

5. Ghana = University of Cape Coast, Kwadaso Agricultural College

6. Tanzania = Sokoine University of Agriculture

7. Malawi = Bunda College

8. Burkina Faso = University of Bobo Dioulasso

9. Benin = University of Abomey Calavi

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Annex III. Duration of Universities/Colleges Programs

Country University Since Until Total 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Ghana

Cape Coast 1993 2003 11 yrs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Kawadaso 1999 2006 8 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Ethiopia

Haramaya 1996 2006 11 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Hawasa 2006 2012 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Bahir Dar 2011 2018 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mekele 2012 2019 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Uganda

Makerere 1 1997 2006 10 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Makerere 2 2007 2013 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Burkina Bobo 2004 2010 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Tanzania Sokoine 1998 2006 9 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Benin Abomey 2004 2010 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Nigeria

Ahmadu Bello 2003 2010 8 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Bayero 2007 2013 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Illorin 2011 2018 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Adamawa 2011 2014 4 yrs

1 2 3 4

Malawi Bunda 2005 2011 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mali

IPR/IFRA 2003 2010 8 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Samanko 2006 2012 7 yrs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Keys: = Concluded universities/Colleges

= Universities / Colleges to be weaned by December 2011

= Universities / Colleges to be weaned by December 2012

= Universities / Colleges to be weaned by December 2013

= Universities / Colleges to be weaned by December 2014

= Universities / Colleges to be weaned by December 2017

= Universities / Colleges to be started in January 2012