Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), an often-overlooked oilseed crop, is proving to be a game-changer for smallholder farmers in Botswana. Safflower is increasingly gaining popularity for its resilience, nutritional value, and industrial potential as a sustainable agricultural option for farmers, businesses, and governments facing climate adaption challenges. Grown primarily for its seeds that yield high-quality edible oil, Safflower can also be used in the production of animal feed, herbal teas, natural dyes, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. With its remarkable tolerance to drought, heat, cold and salinity, Safflower is uniquely suited for Botswana’s arid and semi-arid landscape.  Its ability to thrive in […]

By: Prof John Mupangwa, University of Namibia (UNAM) Namibia faces a significant challenge with rangeland bush encroachment, which affects an estimated 45 million hectares of land, severely reducing productive capacity of herbaceous species and negatively affecting the habitats and biodiversity of both flora and fauna. In addition, the encroacher bush reduces ground water recharge capacity in the rangelands. However, this environmental problem is increasingly being viewed as a valuable resource with immense potential for valorisation within Namibia’s developing bio-economy. Namibia is actively promoting value addition as an economic incentive for sustainable rangeland bush control focusing on diversifying the products that […]

By: Evaline Acan Gaborone, Botswana – In preparation for the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) scheduled for 1 – 5 December 2025, a delegation from the RUFORUM Secretariat paid a courtesy visit to the host country, the Republic of Botswana from 30th June -4th July 2025. In his welcoming remarks, the Vice Chancellor of Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BUIST), Prof. Otlogetswe Totolo highlighted the institution’s vision and commitment to advancing agricultural research and development in Botswana and the broader region. The Vice Chancellor articulated the importance of […]

Africa University (AU) is proud to announce the selection of its first cohort of scholars under the TAGDev 2.0 program – a transformative initiative in partnership with the Regional University Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and Mastercard Foundation.  This milestone reflects the university’s commitment to nurturing leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers through experiential learning. Six (6) undergraduate and four (4) Master’s students have commenced their studies in Harare, Zimbabwe, in the fields of Agribusiness, Software Engineering as well as Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Creativity. At AU, education is a journey of purpose, transformation, and belonging. As a Pan-African United Methodist-related […]

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Join us for a webinar on “Building convergence in gender, inclusion, and safeguarding for inclusive higher agricultural education in Africa” Date: 21st August 2025 Time: 15:00-17:00 EAT Registration Link: Here

Date of Issue: 19 August 2025 Deadline for Submission: 1 October 2025 at 23:59 EAT Submission Link: https://ruforum.org/ruforum-online-procurement-form Background The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) is a network of 175 universities from 40 African countries. RUFORUM envisions vibrant, transformative universities catalyzing sustainable, inclusive agricultural development to feed and create prosperity for Africa. RUFORUM’s mission is to strengthen the capacities of universities to foster innovations responsive to demands of small-holder farmers through the training of high-quality researchers, the output of impact-oriented research and the maintenance of collaborative working relations among researchers, farmers, national agricultural research institutions and […]

Gulu University is proud to announce the selection of its second cohort of scholars under the TAGDev 2.0 program – a transformative initiative in partnership with the Regional University Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and Mastercard Foundation.  This milestone reflects the university’s commitment to nurturing leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers through experiential learning. Rooted in its values for professionalism, integrity, effectiveness, accountability, teamwork, gender responsiveness and inclusivity, Gulu University offers a dynamic environment that supports both personal and professional development for its diverse scholars. Selection process Following a competitive application process launched in February 2025, the TAGDev 2.0 program […]

By Samuel Elolu Gulu, Uganda  [August 7, 2025] – Gulu University made a historic stride as it officially launched the TAGDev 2.0 Program and inaugurated the Agri-Food Systems Research and Entrepreneurship Centre (ASEC), marking a bold new chapter towards empowering young women and men for jobs and work opportunities, community engagement, co-creation of climate adaptive technologies and higher education transformation under the  Transforming African Agricultural Universities to Meaningfully contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development (TAGDev 2.0) program in partnership with the Regional Universities’ forum for capacity building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and the Mastercard Foundation. Presided over by the Vice Chancellor […]

Are you a trailblazer in higher education, research, or development in Africa? Do you have groundbreaking innovations, impactful research, or inspiring success stories that are shaping the continent’s future? Then seize this unparalleled opportunity to showcase your contributions at the 21st Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) Annual General Meeting (AGM)! Submit your Expression of Interest (EOI) by October 30th, 2025, via email to: communications@ruforum.org m.nada@ruforum.org a.badji@ruforum.org entshaanana@buan.ac.bw Exhibition form

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Title: Data Science for Research and Institutional Intelligence Date: 11-15 August 2025 Time: 02:00PM EAT Overview: This intensive short course equips participants with core data science knowledge, from data acquisition to modeling and visualization, while emphasizing ethical and institutional applications. Registration link: http://bit.ly/4mvSXNf  

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Gaborone, Botswana [31 July 2025] – with the continent at a crossroad in its development trajectory, the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) is gearing up for its 21st Annual General Meeting (AGM), set to take place from 1 – 5 December 2025 in Gaborone under the theme “Positioning Africa’s Universities and the Higher Education Sector to Effectively Impact Development processes on the continent”. The central question guiding the AGM is: “What will it take to position Africa’s universities and higher education sector to effectively impact the continent’s development process?” To set the agenda for December’s gathering, […]