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The RUFORUM Secretariat appreciates your continued support and wishes you a Happy Holiday as we look forward to more fruitful partnerships in 2017. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Filed under: 3rd Biennial Conference, News Tagged: African Union Commission, RUFORUM@, Seasonal Greetings, Smallholder Farmers, Social Media, technologies 0

RUFORUM recognizes the need for greater youth participation in enterprise development and business incubation and through its member universities and partners has supported training and skills development in this respect. It has also supported start-ups through innovative financing mechanism of the revolving fund implemented in some member universities. RUFORUM believes in youth entrepreneurship as the […] 0

RUFORUM participated in a Regional Consultation on Higher Education in Africa hosted by the Association of African Universities and the Government of Senegal. The Meeting, which took place on 21-22 November 2016 in Dakar, Senegal, was sponsored by The MasterCard Foundation. It brought together key stakeholders in the higher education sector in Africa and other […] 0

Boris M. Alladassi a RUFORUM sponsored student from Benin emerged best in the category of Poster presentation. His research presentation on “Screening common bean germplasm for leaf and pod resistance to common bacteria blight in Uganda” won this category. Eighteen students who were supported to participate in both poster and oral presentation during this conference […] 0

By Ronald Kityo Armed with an Intra-ACP Mobility scholarship, blessings from my family, but no knowledge of Portuguese, I travelled to the Portuguese speaking country of Mozambique in 2015 to study for a Masters in Crop Protection at Eduardo Mondlane University. This trip was  my first long flight out of Uganda. The weather in Mozambique […] 0

RUFORUM recognizes the need for greater youth participation in enterprise development and business incubation and through its member universities and partners has supported training and skills development in this respect. It has also supported start-ups through innovative financing mechanism of the revolving fund implemented in some member universities. RUFORUM believes in youth entrepreneurship as the […] 0

RUFORUM’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Adipala Ekwamu, and his deputy, Dr. Moses Osiru, met with staff from Okayama University’s Faculty of Agriculture and the Institute of Plant Science and Resources (IPSR) on 10th November 2016 to discuss possible collaboration. The half-day meeting organized by Dr. Arthur Tugume of Makerere University, was held at the Japan International […] 0

The RUFORUM Secretariat was privileged to host Dr. David J. Bergvinson, the Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Dr. Bergvinson was accompanied by Dr. Patrick Okori, Principal Scientist at ICRISAT Malawi, and Dr. Moses Siambi, the Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, ICRISAT. This event took place […] 0

Ten African Heads of State and Government have been constituted into a Committee to champion Higher Education, Science and Technology in Africa, as part of the efforts to strengthen the role of Science and Technology to enhance the realization of economic growth on the continent. This announcement was made by Her Excellency, Dr. Nkosasana Dlamini […] 0

Written by: Sesethu Nyeleka, University of Fort Hare, South Africa The fifth biennial RUFORUM conference held from the 17th to the 21st of October was the first of its kind on the South African Soil. The conference took place at Century City Conference Center in Cape Town, co-organized with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Centre […] 0

By Munyaradzi Makoni, University World News A ground-breaking partnership between the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and The MasterCard Foundation is aiming to strengthen efforts to revamp the agriculture curriculum across Africa. It is seeking to transform agriculture into a vibrant sector linked to African universities that can produce high-performing graduates […] 0

By Nancy Chege This is the story of how my life was beautifully transformed. Many years ago, I enrolled for a Master’s degree in Agricultural Education which later turned into a nightmare. My statistical skills, data and information management skills were minimal and I felt completely helpless every time I thought of testing hypotheses. I […] 0

By Lijalem Gebrewahid, PhD Student at Mekelle University I was born and raised in Shire-Endaslassie, a town in the  Tigrai Region of Northern Ethiopia. My love for agriculture must have been borne out of my experience of growing and caring for plants in the backyard of our home during my childhood. After completing high school, […] 0

Sixty vice-chancellors who constitute the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture, RUFORUM, have committed to train 325 PhD students over the next five years through intra-African academic mobility. “If we all meet to our commitment to train five students each with our own resources, we will have 375 PhDs by the end of […] 0

Stellenbosch University (SU) was the meeting place for a host of current and future leaders in agricultural higher education and research in Africa – from deans and vice-chancellors to undergraduate and PhD students. They visited campus on Monday as part of the 5th African Higher Agricultural Education Week and the Biennial Conference of the Regional […] 0

The week’s activities ended on a high note with standout academic and entrepreneurial achievements being officially recognised. RUFORUM’s 15 emerging innovators were each presented with the Young African Entrepreneurs Award and the best student posters were handpicked by a special panel. Seven academics were recognised for their extraordinary contributions to RUFORUM’s goals, including: Prof Frans […] 0

The important role of inter-institutional alliances was highlighted on Friday, as delegates discussed the steps to improving the quality of higher education at African universities. Keynote speaker, African Academy of Sciences Executive Director Prof Berhanu Abegaz, set the tone for much of the discussions with the statement: “The need for increasing quality is not a […] 0

Several discussions on Thursday last week were dominated by conversations around the best ways of connecting with farmers. Keynote speaker Prof Patrick Okori (ICRISAT) told delegates despite the increased reach of communication technology, over 500 million people are not benefiting that much from agriculture due to limited access to relevant information and market knowledge, adding: […] 0

The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) convened the 5th African Higher Education Week and RUFORUM Biennial Conference 2016 in Cape town South Africa from 17th– 21st October, 2016.  RUFORUM is an institution that oversee graduate training and networks of specialization across Africa and primarily within the Common Market for Eastern and […] 0

The factors needed for increased innovation at university level were discussed on Wednesday as the 5th African Higher Education Week and RUFORUM Biennial Conference 2016 entered its second day. Acknowledging the importance of attracting private sector support, the day kicked off with a session titled Linking Universities with Private Sector for agri-business innovations. Although the […] 0