Borlaug Higher Education for Agricultural Research Development (BHEARD) programme develops human and institutional capacity in Africa

It has been estimated that by 2050, the world’s global population will grow to around 9.7 billion, and that the world food supply must double to adequately feed this population. Even today, a significant portion of the world population experiences food insecurity, primarily in developing countries. Feed the Future is the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative that supports country driven approaches to address the root causes of hunger and poverty. The Borlaug Higher Education for Agricultural Research and Development (BHEARD) programme, a human and institutional capacity development programme, is part of Feed the Future. BHEARD takes a holistic approach to human and institutional capacity building by training employees of specific agricultural institutions that have been identified as meeting the priorities of each USAID and host government responses to the Feed the Future programme. BHEARD has identified a number of creative solutions to perennial challenges related to degree training, such as how to ensure that the trainees return to their home countries and institutions after graduation, and how to ensure that the degree research is relevant to the needs of the home country. BHEARD also has a commitment to institutional capacity development with the partner institutions from which we draw our students. A final area of focus is the challenge of creating an active community of researchers among those who complete the BHEARD programme.