THE RUFORUM VISION 2030: The role of strategic partners in the quest to transform Africa’s Agricultural Sector

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a roadmap for re-orienting the world towards a sustainable and resilient path envisioned to lead to elimination of poverty, sustainable and inclusive growth, and, restoration of ecosystems. While governments are predominantly responsible for the implementation of this transformational agenda and demonstrate progress being made, nurturing and involvement of strategic partnerships is critical. According to SDG 17.16 and 17.17, multi-stakeholder partnerships are needed to mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the SDGs in all countries particularly in developing countries. Multi-stakeholder partnerships encompass several actors operating in the agricultural landscape including development partners, policy actors, private sector, community institutions and civil society entities that are critical in the transformational agenda of the agricultural sector in Africa. Amongst policy actors these include the ministries of agriculture responsible for the formulation, review and implementation of national policies, plans, strategies, regulations and standards as well as enforcing laws, regulations and standards along the crops, livestock and fisheries value chain. However policy formulation is undertaken in consultation with international development partners owing to the significant support they extend towards the implementation of agricultural sector strategies. Apart from international development partners, civil society, non-governmental organizations and farmer organizations are critical in agricultural policy implementation through provision of agricultural extension services and strengthening of agricultural value chains by linking the different value chain actors. Facilitation of agricultural extension is achieved through collaborations with higher education institutions and agricultural research partners as sources of agricultural innovations and knowledge for scaling-out to various value chain actors. The knowledge and information acquired by the various value chain actors is expected to result into increased productivity, agribusiness innovations and agri-entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to highlight key stakeholders the RUFORUM Network will need to work with to achieve the RUFORUM Vision 2030 of “Vibrant transformative universities catalyzing sustainable inclusive agricultural development to feed and create prosperity for Africa”