Maputo, Mozambique
April 3, 2007
Michael Malakata,
SciDev.Net
African universities are collaborating to develop degree
programmes that will accelerate agricultural research and
biotechnology development in Eastern and Southern Africa.
The announcement was made at a conference on biotechnology,
breeding and seed systems in Maputo, Mozambique, this week (27
March).
The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in
Agriculture (RUFORUM), made up of 12 Eastern and Southern Africa
universities, has developed doctoral programmes in dairy
science, food science, plant breeding and biotechnology,
research methodology and rural development, and crop
improvement.
Adipala Ekwamu, RUFORUM's regional coordinator, says the degrees
will be developed jointly by the universities and will involve
roving tutors and web tutorials.
"These are regional PhDs," Ekwamu told SciDev.Net. "We are
running these programmes to equip our scientists and fill the
gaps that are being left by those fleeing for greener pastures."
After graduation, students will be given jobs in research
institutions in the region to boost research capacity.
Universities involved include, among others, the University of
Zambia, Malawi University, Makerere University, Africa
University and the University of Zimbabwe.
Each programme will cost RUFORUM US$800,000. The programmes are
sponsored by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
(FARA) under its Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program and its
Strengthening Capacity for Agricultural Research and Development
in Africa.
FARA secretary general Monty Jones said Africa needs to train
more scientists in agricultural research to make significant
progress in scientific research.
"So many younger African scientists are coming up and they need
further training in order for them to make progress," said
Jones.
The training will be modelled on course-based systems in the
United States, with mandatory publication in a peer-reviewed
journal. The programmes will start in August this year.
The project is not part of the plans for networks of centres of
excellence developed under the New Partnership for Africa's
Development, but RUFORUM has the same objective of using
collective action to build science and technology capacity to
speed Africa's development.
At the end of the Maputo conference, scientists said more human
resources were needed in agricultural science.
They also called for African systems of research and innovation
to create better crop varieties that will improve food security.
Officially closing the conference, Gary Toenniessen, director of
the Rockefeller Foundation, said it is only through human
resource development that Africa is going to realise its dream
of a green revolution.
"We should always emphasise the importance of training and human
resource development in order to realise our goals," he said. |
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