Stakes of the 19th edition of RUFORUM

Creating Higher Education hub for African prosperity

Yaoundé UDs/SIC- 29/10/23.The 19th RUFORUM Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to hold from October 28th to 2nd November 2023 in Yaoundé- Cameroon is geared towards creating a higher education hub for African prosperity. Its key aim focuses on engaging governments and development partners to support Higher Education in Africa under the theme “Transforming Higher Education to Sustainably Feed and Create Prosperity for Africa.” The event a host of agricultural research and development stakeholders to provide a platforms in Africa and beyond to actively engage and share lessons as well as experiences towards improving performance of the agricultural sector. The success of the AGM is guaranteed by many events such as Media Briefing, The Cameroon Higher Education day, Poster presentations and exhibitions to profile research for development outcomes, specific convening to discuss topical issues affecting science, technology and innovation development in Africa; meetings with policy and private sector leaders, Ministerial dialogue; and RUFORUM governance meetings among others. Stakes of the theme: Transforming Higher Education to sustainably Feed and create prosperity for AfricaIn 2017, Africa spent $64.5 billion on importing food, and may spend even more in subsequent years which is obviously unsustainable, and unaffordable. Africa has 65% of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land, an abundance of fresh water and about 300 days of sunshine each year. More than 60% of Africa’s working population is engaged in agriculture, and the soil across most of the continent is rich and fertile. Meanwhile precious foreign exchange is being lost by payment of food imported. Thus there is need to quickly eliminate the negative balance, and start to sow, grow, process, consume, and ultimately export the food. Today, Modern agriculture is driven by technologies such as drought resilience, crop protection and yield enhancement, and also contribute substantially to employment and wealth creation. As such, agriculture is building the cornerstone of Africa’s economic transformation. For this transformation to be possible, Higher education sector needs to step in with urgent and sustainable steps to assure long lasting results.Nowadays, Universities engage in agricultural research and education by contributing to sustainable economic development through tackling food security challenges and by enabling the growth of agri-businesses and entrepreneurship. In these efforts, the RUFORUM a consortium of 163 African universities in 40 countries on the continent is poised to attain its mission to strengthen the capacities of Universities, to foster innovations responsive to the demand of smallholder farmers through the training of high quality researchers, the output of impact oriented research and the maintenance of collaborative working relations among researchers, farmers, and national agricultural research institutions. Established by Vice Chancellors of 10 universities in 2004 with headquarters at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, RUFUROM has a MoU with the African Union Commission to support implementation of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2024) geared towards creating food security. RUFORUM through higher education has supported the training of 2053 MSc, 627 PhD graduates and 229 BSc, of whom 98% work in their countries or region, the generation of over 300 agricultural technologies and mobilized over US$236.3 million for strengthening postgraduate education in Africa.The 19th edition’s theme shows that, food production needs to be increased due to the growth of the population, changes like need for water, soil degradation and climate change. Education and especially the education on agriculture becomes much more important for the improvement in the skills and knowledge of the farmers and agricultural employees. To boost the agricultural sector, the educational system has to pay attention for the changing needs of the agricultural system. According to IFAD (2012), “there are about half a billion small farms in the world, supporting around 2 billion people and food production needs to be doubled by 2050 in developing countries to assure food security. GDP growth generated by agriculture is up to four times more.The presence of the Minister of Higher Education, Professor FAME NDONGO Jacques and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr MBAIROBE Gabriel testifies to its importance. The 19th RUFORUM AGM promises to be an educational forum for thought leadership, collaboration, and innovation. Attendees can expect insightful plenary sessions, engaging panel discussions, capacity-building workshops, and invaluable networking opportunities, all geared towards fostering sustainable agricultural practices and advancing higher education in Africa. Key activities of the 19th RUFORUM AGM include Scientific Sessions, RUFORUM Governance meetings (Deans and Principals, Vice Chancellors Forum), Side Events, Exhibitions and Poster Presentation, and the 19th Annual General Meeting among others. The AGM promises key note speakers in the field of Agriculture, Higher Education Science and Technology. To ensure accessibility to all participants, the 19th RUFORUM AGM will be hosted as a blended event, allowing individuals from diverse backgrounds to engage fully in the discussions./