Establishing Innovative Higher Education Programmes in Support of Agricultural Rural Transformation in Africa: The case of FORUM and RUFORUM

The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture supports relevance and excellence in agricultural Higher Education. RUFORUM, the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture, is a collaborative network of African universities which evolved from the Rockefeller Foundation supported Forum for Agricultural Resource Husbandry initiated by Prof. Malcolm Blackie and Dr. Joyce Moock. Between 1991 and 2003 the FORUM provided 314 grants which supported training of 250 MSc graduates who delivered research results relevant to rural communities. There was an open but tough review process for selection of proposals to be funded and progress which was actively monitored and mentored by Dr. Bharati Patel. In addition Rockefeller Foundation provided support for institutional change and faculty development and encouraged regional networking. RUFORUM was established in 2004 by the 10 participating universities with the Board made up of the Vice-Chancellors of these universities, a Secretariat, a Deans Committee and a Technical Committee. Subsequently an International Advisory Panel was also created. The network now has 29 members drawn from throughout the Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) region and since 2008 it has registered over 500 students for MSc or PhDs with 41% women students and graduation rate and a recognised contribution to both national and regional research agendas. RUFORUM has at its core the competitive research grants programme which includes: Graduate Research Grants (GRG), each project supporting training of at least 2 MSc students; Community Action Research Projects (CARP) each with 1 PhD and 3 MSc students; and Field Attachment grants for graduates awaiting final results.RUFORUM has supported the establishment of Regional Postgraduate Programmes that address gaps at both the MSc and PhD levels. It has also facilitated investments in institutional and faculty development, networking at the national, regional and international levels and has successfully raised the profile of higher agricultural education in Africa