Flagship 1: TAGDev – Transforming African Agricultural Universities to meaningfully contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development
The TAGDev programme seeks to transform African agricultural universities and their graduates, in order to respond better to developmental challenges through the enhanced application of science, technology, business and innovation for rural agricultural transformation. The programme is focused on: (i) developing a new model of agricultural education that connects agricultural higher and tertiary education to rural communities through a student-centred agricultural extension model; and (ii) strengthening agribusiness and entrepreneurship through ‘student and/or community enterprise projects’. The programme pursues greater integration and collaboration with the business, technical and vocational education and training (BTVET) institutions focused on skills building and forging sector skills alliances, in order to support the design and delivery of joint vocational training curricula, programmes, and teaching and training methodologies, and drawing on evidence of trends in a specific economic sector and the skills needed for performing in one or more professional fields.
Through the programme, universities and their partners will work actively to change public perceptions, promoting agriculture as an intellectually stimulating and economically sustainable career. The goal in this regard is for agriculture to be widely recognised as a vitally important career and as a ‘cool’ and attractive option for young people. This will also entail universities and their partners modifying university curricula to make agriculture-based courses more attractive to young people and more relevant to the skills and opportunities they now seek
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