Building Local Capacities for Innovative Research through RUFORUM: Experiences from South Sudan
Abstract
165 words
South Sudan is endowed with abundant natural resources that
can sustain diverse agricultural activities. Decades of civil strife
greatly hindered agricultural development until peace returned
with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
in 2005. Although there are combined efforts by Government
and development partners to rejuvenate agricultural productivity,
production is low and options for increased productivity are
grossly under-utilised. In order to meet these challenges
rationally and to pro-actively seize available opportunities,
increasing and committing more resources to Agricultural
Research for Development (R4D) could bring the much
anticipated agricultural transformation in South Sudan. Hence,
building local expertise for innovation research is vital the
Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture
(RUFORUM) has played a leading role. Through RUFORUM,
the author secured a Masters Degree scholarship in Plant
Breeding and Seed Systems (2008/2011). This training enhanced
his research skills and significantly improved his performance
as a research scientist at his institution. He is now leading a
number of agricultural programmes in South Sudan.
Subjects
2 categoriesRelated papers
More in Working Document Series →- Soybean Research & Development in Uganda : A Case of paradigm shift in an African University (2002 -2015)
- Mainstreaming seed demand forecasting in the agenda of private and public sector seed actors
- Status of weeds and weed management practices in finger millet growing areas in eastern Uganda
- Public-Private-University partnerships in agriculture science research for economic development in Africa: Lessons from North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park