Strengthening capacity in tertiary agricultural education and training Institutions: The case of iAGRI

The Innovative Agricultural Research Initiative (iAGRI) aims to strengthen training and collaborative research capacities of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives (MAFC). The goal is to improve food security and agricultural productivity in Tanzania. Starting in March 2011, this 6-year USAID-Tanzania project funded under Feed the Future Presidential initiative aims at addressing hunger and poverty in Africa. The project purpose is aligned with the themes and road map of the USAID Feed the Future (FtF) initiative and the Government of Tanzania (GoT) Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program Compact and Agricultural Sector Development Program (ASDP). The project is backed by a consortium of six universities (The Ohio State University, Michigan State University, University of Florida, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Iowa State University and Tuskegee University); led by The Ohio State University. The project’s objectives are a) to establish a program of collaborative agriculture research with SUA , MAFC and relevant food system private sector participants, b) provide advanced degree training in agriculture and nutrition for 135 Tanzanian graduate students, c) strengthen institutional capacity of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) to develop and implement instructional, research, internship, and outreach programs, and d) promote cooperation between SUA, U.S. universities, and global south universities. These four objectives are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. The project aims at training a new generation of agricultural scientists and leaders. In addition to degree training, the program cultivates soft skills (leadership, communication, etc.) in the trainees and strives to make them responsible and accountable citizens after their graduation. For example, leadership skills are developed through a webinar series. The collaborative research part of iAGRI focuses on eight priority thematic areas that originated from key stakeholders of the program through a needs assessment followed by a participatory priority setting workshop. Not only are these themes the foundation of the competitive and solicited research topics but also they form the basis of thesis and dissertation research topics for the students. Institutional capacity strengthening covers a wide-array of areas whose aim can be summarized as providing a conducive environment for teaching, learning, research and outreach and, in so doing, making the University an effective 21st century institution. In this regard, capacity is being strengthened in leadership development, university public-private linkages, university teaching and learning improvement, gender main streaming, access to literature, and alumni strengthening. To date the project has placed 87 Tanzanians in universities in the USA, Africa and India for PhD and MSc degrees. Eight collaborative research teams each consisting of scientists from SUA, MAFC and the six U.S. universities are engaged in multidisciplinary research covering the priority themes identified. There has been an exchange of a number of university leaders, staff and students between the OSUC and Tanzanian institutions in the last three years. Lessons learned in the execution of the program thus far, can be applied to improve or make adjustments in implementing the remaining part of the program or applied in similar projects in the future. We have learned the following lessons, among others: (i) effective recruitment and placement of trainees in tertiary institutions for degree training is a momentous task requiring sophisticated networks, collaboration, different levels and media of communication and trust amongst institutions. This is especially so when overseas placement is involved, (ii) strengthening capacity through training alone in a “business as usual” mode may not be very effective. Institutions, taken here to mean both” organizations” and “rules of the game” must be strengthened as well. After all, these are expected to be the bedrock to support and facilitate those that have been trained. Therefore, facilitating institutional transformation in the home institution of the trainees is vital, (iii) many steps are involved in establishing research collaboration among institutions. It takes time and a great deal of effort to link scientists to the point of them beginning to work together. Building a shared vision and agreeing on objectives, building trust and respect and creating common values to guide the teams from different continents takes time, and (iv) to be successful in long term degree training and in leadership development, one needs to have a good understanding of the economic, political, socio-pyscho-cultural dynamics that influence or are likely to influence those whose capacity is to be strengthened. In this game the trainers may want to “run” while the trainees may still want to “walk”. Striking a balance is important.