RUFORUM Launches Three New ACP-S&T Projects

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The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) launched three new ACP-S&T Projects during a 3-day workshop at Entebbe, Uganda on the 10th to the 12th of February 2010.These new  projects are part of the many innovative efforts aimed at realizing the RUFORUM dream.



The overall objective of the inception meeting was to design detailed implementation plans for the three projects. Specifically the inception meeting facilitated the following:

1. Familiarization of partners and other stakeholders on the projects
2. Design of comprehensive project management procedures including the specific roles of partner institutions
3. Development of project work plans and detailed budget allocation
4. Development of comprehensive implementation plans with project milestones,
5. Design of project M&E frameworks and performance management plans
6. Identification of synergies between the three projects and other related projects

What is the ACP-S&T Programme?       

The ACP Science and Technology Programme is an ACP-EU co-operation programme launched in June 2008 that funds partnership projects through an open Call for Project Proposals. Its overall objective is to support African, Caribbean and Pacific countries in formulating and implementing science and technology (S&T) policies that can lead to sustainable development and to poverty reduction through economic growth and progressive integration in the world economy. It specifically aims at strengthening the internal S&T capacity of ACP countries to support research, development and innovation in the ACP region at three levels:

1. Institutional, administrative and policy mak¬ing; 
2. Academic research and technology; and 
3. Business and civil society.

The programme promotes interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development by co-ordination and networking in applied research;, instruments for collaborative research, and management of research activities and reinforcement of research. The programme targets the creation or consolidation of sustainable networks at intra ACP-level with linkages to international networks; increased capacity to assess research needs to facilitate the formulation and implementation of research policies; increased capacity and incentives to research network partners to prepare and submit project proposals to funding agencies, including for example the EC’s ‘Seventh Framework Pro¬gramme for research and technology develop¬ment’ (FP7); research results better capitalized and dis¬seminated; and improved quality of research results.
The Three ACP-S&T Projects at RUFORUM are BIODIVERSITY, INNOVATIONS and OUTREACH      


BIODIVERSITY PROJECT
Title: "Building human and institutional capacity for enhancing the conservation and use of neglected and underutilized species of crops in West Africa, and Eastern and Southern Africa".

Overall Objective of the Biodiversity Project

Poverty reduction and greater food and nutritional security in West Africa, and Eastern and Southern Africa through enhanced conservation and use of neglected and underutilized species (NUS).

Specific Objectives of the Biodiversity Project

1. Establish the state of and needs for human and institutional capacity for research on and marketing of NUS
2. Strengthen capacities in young scientists to develop and manage research projects on NUS and to publish results
3. Strengthen capacity in key thematic areas of NUS research
4. Strengthen dissemination of NUS research results
5. Inform policy makers on the role and benefits of NUS

Partners in the Biodiversity Project

• RUFORUM
• ANAFE
• University of Nairobi
• University of Malawi
• Institut de Recherché et de Développment sur la Biodiversité des Plantes Cultivées, Aromatiques et Médicinales (IRDCAM), Benin
• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, - Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, Ghana
• Biodiversity International, Rome
• International Foundation of Sciences (IFS), Sweden

Please visit the Biodiversity Project Blog

INNOVATIONS PROJECT
Title: "Building the capacity of African University graduates to foster change through agricultural innovation"

Overall Objective of the Innovations Project

Contribute towards poverty reduction in rural areas through strengthening of national and regional capacities to contribute to and facilitate innovation processes for rural development in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Specific Objectives of the Innovations Project

1. Enhance partnerships for effective networking & institutional change management;
2. Establish and implement a part-time mid-career professional training course on the facilitation of agricultural innovation processes;
3. Strengthen innovation capacity of university graduates for IAR4D;
4. Build cross-disciplinary networks of expertise on the role of agricultural research in facilitating rural innovation; and,
5. Share lessons learnt on the mid-career professional training course and innovation curricula.

Partners to the Innovations Project

• RUFORUM
• Egerton University (Kenya),
• Makerere University (Uganda)
• University of Malawi (Bunda College of Agriculture), Malawi,
• Royal Tropical Institute - KIT (Netherlands)

Associate Partners

• Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA),
• Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA);
• Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA)

For more information on the Innovations Project please visit the Project Blog

OUTREACH PROJECT
Title: "Shifting from Outreach to Engagement: transforming Universities response to current development trends in agricultural research and training in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa"

Overall Objective of the Outreach Project

Contribute to sustainable food security and incomes in the ECSA region and accelerate achievement of the MDGs

Specific Objective of the Outreach Project

Facilitate the creation of responsive university programmes (research, education and outreach) that deliver competent graduates to support farmers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) establish sustainable agro-food value chains

Partners to the Outreach Project

• RUFORUM
• Moi University, Kenya
• Makerere University, Uganda
• University of Malawi, Malawi
• Wageningen University and Research Centre, Netherlands

Please visit the Outreach Project Blog

Emerging Partnership: to synergize African efforts of digitizing agricultural knowledge & information

RUFORUM brought together five strategic African partners to discuss opportunities of submitting a proposal in response to challenge 4 of the current FP7 ICT Call. Challenge 4 focuses on Digital Libraries and Digital Preservation. The planning meeting was held on the 8th to the 9th of February 2010 at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda. The following international organisations were represented:

1. Association of African Universities represented by Dr Pascal Hoba
2. ASARECA represented by Ms Jacqueline Nyagahima
3. FARA represented by Ms Jacqueline Nnam
4. NEPAD E-Africa Commission represented by Dr Towela Nyirenda-Jere
5. WOUGNET represented by Ms Janet Achora
6. RUFORUM was represented by Professor Ekwamu Adipala, Ms Nodumo Dhlamini and Miss Joan Apio

RUFORUM sees the European Framework Programme Seven as an opportunity to network with European and African partners for the purposes of improving the sharing and management of agricultural information and knowledge. RUFORUM is keen to ensure that her ICT strategy links with the NEPAD agenda and to progress her ICT Mission – “to use emerging technologies and opportunities offered by ICTs to strengthen the capacities of universities to foster innovations responsive to demands of small-holder farmers”. RUFORUM would also like to engage with various development partners to test emerging ICT technologies and their application to the agricultural sector for the benefit of poor communities in an endeavor to improve livelihoods.

The planning meeting was very successful and a workplan has been put in place to ensure that the proposal is completed by the end of March 2010 and submitted.

EURO Africa ICT Meeting 4-5 February 2010, Addis Ababa

Nodumo Dhlamini, the ICT Programme Manager at RUFORUM attended the 2010 Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research at the UN Conference Centre Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme of the conference was "Learning and Reflecting on ICT Collaborative Research and Development - Projecting the Future of ICT Research in Africa". RUFORUM's interest in this meeting was to make contact with European Partners, with a view to collaborating as partners in the submission of a proposal in response to the FP7 ICT Call that was issued on the 24th of November 2009.

The EuroAfriCa-ICT project aims at promoting and supporting the development of S&T cooperation on ICT research between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa and between Europe and the Caribbean. The main activities are:

• Organisation of two "Euro-Africa Cooperation Forums on ICT Research": one in Europe (Brussels, Belgium - 2009) and one in Africa (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - in early 2010),
• Organisation of five FP7/ICT awareness workshops in Africa and the Caribbean (Benin, Jamaica, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda) supported by a wide promotion of opportunities offered by FP7/ICT,
• Organisation of four concertation meetings in Europe supported by the implementation of strong links with national, European and international programmes and initiatives (including European Technology Platforms, ETPs and Joint Technology Initiatives, JTIs),
• Support to the development of partnerships and emerging cooperation projects based - among other things - on the implementation and development of a EuroAfriCa-ICT database.

Science and Technology (S&T) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are now widely recognised as key vectors for bridging the scientific and digital divides, for reducing poverty and ensuring socio-economic development, reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and, eventually, supporting the sustainable evolution towards a peaceful, integrated and prosperous continent, making it a full player of the global community.

Please visit this link to view the proceedings, report, photo gallery, and other conference documents.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy ...

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At RUFORUM we do work very hard but take time out to play sometimes. On the 29th of January 2010 the Chief Executive Officer of RUFORUM Professor Ekwamu Adipala (who was on official leave at the time) celebrated his birthday in style. A surprise celebration was planned for him by RUFORUM staff after conniving with his wife and the event happened at Prof Adipala's residence. It took a lot of convincing to get Professor Adipala to put on the yellow party hat! Please enjoy some of the party pictures below:

E-Content Development & Staff Retooling Workshop (11-15 January 2010)

The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the University of Greenwich (through the Natural Resources Institute - NRI) collaborated to run a five-day training workshop on e-content development and staff re-tooling targeted at Agricultural Information Communication Management (AICM) lecturers/facilitators. Twenty-five participants from Egerton University and the University of Nairobi came together to solidify and learn the following concepts:
1)    E-learning course design;
2)    Moodle course management;
3)    E-tutoring and
4)    Structural infrastructure & cultural change issues. 

Dr Simon Walker (Head of Educational Development, University of Greenwich London), Dr Timothy Chancellor (Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich London) and Ms Nodumo Dhlamini (RUFORUM ICT Programme Manager) facilitated during this training workshop


Please click here to download the full report

Day 5: Last Day of the Web 2.0 Training

26th June 2009

The final day has proved to be interesting. The objectives for the last day are:

After successfully and actively participating in the day’s activities we shall have:

1. Recapped the work and reviewed Day 4 evaluation posted on the RUFORUM blog.
2. Finalised the population of the ODL template with at least one unit from our respective modules.
3. Designed a working e-content peer review process
4. Reviewed and practiced with web 2.0 tools learnt during the course for e-content development
5. Designed strategies for completing the modules
6. Evaluate the workshop through Monkey Survey

Please watch this space for further updates.

The Approach to Peer Review for RUFORUM Supported Regional Postgraduate Programs

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The afternoon session of day four of the training focused on issues of peer review.

There were two main exercises for the afternoon:

1. Peer Review of ODL content developed by Participants
2. Brainstorming session on "The Approach to Peer Review for RUFORUM Supported Regional Postgraduate Programs"

Peer Review of ODL content developed by Participants

• An assignment was set up on one of the courses on moodle instructing all the participants to submit their ODL content via the moodle Learning Management System
• All the participants submitted their ODL content
• The facilitators projected each content submitted for peer review by all the participants

The general comments on the ODL content submitted by the participants were:

1. Most participants had not put all the content for the completion of one unit/lesson of content
2. The formatting of the content needed to be attended to for consistency
3. A few of the participants uploaded the wrong files, thus the low scores
4. A good number of the content submitted was very promising and with more time and focus, we are confident that it can be finalized

The Approach to Peer Review for RUFORUM Supported Regional Postgraduate Programs

The facilitator gave a background of what peer review was and this included that:

• Peer review would subject the modules to the scrutiny of others
• Peer review would ensure quality and flow in terms of presentation
• Peer review would ensure that compliance to best practice is assured

The participants acknowledged that the challenges to peer review included:

• Inadequate time for the review processes
• At most times the author could take long to respond to the reaction of the comments
• Expertise in terms of reviewers is limited.
• How do we motivate reviewers?
• The choice of reviewers is key and fundamental
• The subjectivity of the review process must be taken into consideration
• How ready is the content for peer review?

Brainstorming Session: Peer Review Process and Operationalization in relation to RUFORUM Postgraduate Programmes

The participants were grouped into four groups of five members and asked to deliberate on the following issues:

1. What aspects of our modules should be peer reviewed?
2. Who could be the possible reviewers?
3. Suggest a possible process for the review of the modules
4. Define the roles of the following: RUFORUM; Authors; Program Coordinators;Other Institutional arrangements

Evaluation of Day Four: All the participants were asked to visit the RUFORUM blog and post their evaluations in the comments section. The focus areas of evaluation for day four were: Time Management ; Participation; Hotel and Accomodation; Facilitation; ODL and the peer review; Internet Connectivity