Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE) Annual Report: 2009 Major achievements in 2009 and Plans for 2010 Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education P.O.Box ( ): 24135 code 1000 Telephone ( ): + 251 116 477 665/70/71 Fax( ): + 251 116 477 666 Website: www.safe-africa.org 0
Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE) Major Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities in 2009 and Plans for 2010 Achievements A. SAFE programs in SG2000 Focus Countries I. Mali 1.1. Rural Polytechnic Institute for Training and Applied Research (IPR/IFRA) IPR/IFRA continued to graduate students in the program on a yearly basis since 2006. Sixty-two (62) students were graduated so far and were distributed all over the country. Twenty new students (18 males & 2 females) have been admitted for 2008/09 academic year. The issue of lack of lecturers in agricultural extension remains a challenge. In order to address this issue, two lecturers are currently sponsored by SAFE at ABU, Nigeria (1) and the other one at a private University in Mali. Both will complete the courses in 2010. The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) remains committed in supporting the program. MoA takes charge of SEPs supervision every year. However, there is a need for the government to substantially increase its support. The alumni association is active in helping to supervise students SEPs in the various regions thereby making the supervision much easier for lecturers and students. To a large extent, farmers are very willing to receive the students and work with them because they (farmers) value the SEPs. Partners like the Centre d Etudes Canadian (CECI) continued to support the program in sponsoring and sending annually volunteers to the program. 1.2. Samanko: The diploma program at Samanko continued to enjoy the same support from MoA. The demand for this level of training is high in the country and the government continued to send staff for training. The government needs to increase its current level of support in order to ensure the smooth implementation of program. 1
The institutional linkage/arrangement between IPR and Samanko became stronger over the years with IPR providing the technical backstopping. Twenty five new students (16 males & 9 females) have been admitted for 2008/09 academic year. The percentage of female enrollment has increased from 16% (in 2008) to 36% (in 2009). The 3 rd intake 25 students (21 males and 4 females) who have been enrolled in 2008 academic year will complete their studies in November 2009. The first batch of graduates who completed their studies in October 2008 are currently working directly with farmers in the various regions of the country. II. Nigeria 2.1. Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) The steady admission since 2002 confirms the relevance and the high demand for the program. The 2 nd batch of 18 students (16 males & 2 females) graduated in April 2008, and another 22 students (21 males & 1 female) were admitted for the 2009/10 academic year. The 4 th batch of 15 students (14 males and 1 female) for the ABU-SAFE program graduated with distinction, 1 st class and 2 nd class level. The fact that SAFE students are making first class at ABU shows that they compete very well with the regular students of the University and that they work very hard while they are on the program. Most of the graduates are currently working in the ADPs, Fadamas as well as NGOs. Four (4) of them are currently on their postgraduate studies at ABU. SEPs are well accepted by farmers and women processors. Resource persons were invited from business and industry sectors during the year to give seminars to students in the following areas: Agribusiness opportunities in Nigeria; 2
Types of credit/funding available in banks for starting small agribusiness and criteria to access those types; Legal requirements for establishing small business; and Market development and management for marketing agricultural products from small agribusiness enterprises. ABU is very well endowed in human resources (large number of very experienced and highly qualified academic and administrative staff). 2.2 Bayero University Kano (BUK), Nigeria: The program at BUK has made steady progress during 2009. The 2 nd batches of 31 students (29 males and 2 females) were admitted for 2008/09 academic year. A full program accreditation of SAFE program at BUK is expected any time before the end of 2009. Major stakeholders (ADPs, Ministries of Agric, Ministries of Local Governments, etc.) have given full support to their staff who are enrolled in the program by paying full registration fees and other expenses, including payment of their full salaries. BUK is working on the formation of a National Stakeholder Forum (constituted by major stakeholders such as Ministries of Agriculture, ADPs, NGOs, etc.) to create greater awareness and understanding of the value of SAFE program. The leadership of BUK, especially the Vice-Chancellor, is truly committed to the program. The joint ABU/BUK SAFE management committee is now well established and regular exchange visits are held between the two universities to address relevant issues pertaining to the effective implementation of the current two programs in Nigeria. III. Ethiopia 3.1 Haramaya University, Ethiopia 3
Haramaya University is continuing to sustain the mid-career program despite of SAFE s termination of funding. The university continues to engage in SAFE activities. For example, we held a needs assessment stakeholder workshop and East Africa Regional Networking workshop where the university was represented at the highest level. The president of the university attended the workshops and presented a keynote paper on the challenges of upgrading the professional qualifications of the midcareer extension workers. Twenty five students were enrolled for 2009/10 academic year. Thirty one male students who have been enrolled in 2007 graduated in July 2009. 3.2 Hawasa University, Ethiopia The first group 20 students (including 2 women) graduated in July 2009. Thirty two students (26 males & 6 females) were admitted for the 2009/10 academic year. A successful SEPs workshop was held where both first and second year students received combined feedback from their lecturers, employers and SG2000 representatives. Three SG2000 staff gave seminars covering their operations and focus in Ethiopia to create awareness and identify potential relevant topics for SEPs. One of the staff later played a consultative role and provided technical advice to students as they developed and implemented their projects. The staffing situation in the Extension Department has improved substantially during 2009. There are now five full-fledged lecturers with MSc. degrees. Three of them, including a woman, are mid-career graduates. In addition, one staff member is on PhD study leave and four others on MSc. study leave. IV. Uganda 4.1 Makerere University, Uganda SAFE has discontinued its support as a result of the university admitting high school leavers with no experience in the program. 4
The proposal for the distance education of the current regular curriculum has been delayed due to administrative constraints. Those constraints have been removed and the proposal was sent back to the university system for approval. In the meantime, the writing of instructional materials for the distance learning version of the mid-career program has started. B. SAFE programs in Non-focus Countries V. Ghana 5.1. University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana UCC continued to attract more and more fee paying students from the private sector (Ghana Cocoa Board and NGOs.). The female intake into the program has been increased (20% of the total). The increase was due to an active work of sensitization of female extension workers done by the lecturers during the supervision of SEPs. UCC continued to run good SEPs projects to increase farmers` productivity and income. The topics of SEPs in 2009 illustrated that more farmers are interested in value addition and income generating activities. UCC is being providing remedial courses to technical extension workers with certificate to allow them to be enrolled in the diploma program at Kwadaso Agricultural College. A laudable undertaking which enhances the existing linkage between the two institutions. Currently, UCC is training the 2 Ph.D SAFE fellows from Ethiopia who are expected to complete in 2010. 5.2. Kwadaso Agricultural College (KAC), Ghana The government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) continued to extend its support to the program at KAC. The SAFE diploma model at KAC has inspired MOFA to upgrade all its agricultural colleges to diploma awarding institutions. Thirty four students (30 males & 4 females) who have been enrolled in 2007 graduated in September, 2009. 5
The Diploma in Agricultural Extension at Kwadaso Agricultural College is still in high demand as more technical extension workers apply for admission. The number of private candidates applying for the program keeps increasing every year. Thirty percent (30%) of the 2009/2010 intake are private candidates. UCC continued to give its technical back stopping. VI. Benin 6.1. University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC), Benin The UAC program has produced two batches of graduates who have been absorbed by the Ministry of Agriculture and the private sector. Students enrollment program has increased year after year. The private sector as well as the public sector continued to show interest in the program. Collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the SAFE program in Benin has become stronger. VII. Burkina Faso 7.1. Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso (UPB), Burkina Faso The program has made significant progress since the change at the top management team. The new management is committed and has a better understanding of the program and its value. The second set of 18 students (including 5 females) graduated in 2009. The Ministry of Agriculture made financial and technical commitment to support the Program. There has been improved collaboration and understanding on the part of the main three sector ministries (ministry of agriculture, ministry of education and ministry of natural resources) concerned by the program. There are 2322 agents from those ministries who badly need to be trained. All the mid-career students have been resettled to the main campus in Bobo Dioulasso. 6
VII. Malawi 7.1. Bunda College, Malawi Students enrollment is proving to be a major challenge at Bunda College due to lack of scholarships. The government has recently redirected most of the resources towards fertilizer subsidy leaving no funds for scholarships. As a result, very few students were enrolled this year. A part-time program is being developed now to address this issue. The program completed two full cycles with the graduation of all 18 students of the second intake group, including five females.. VIII. Tanzania 8.1. Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Tanzania Although there is no direct SAFE support to Sokoine, SUA is continuing to sustain the mid-career program using its own resources. The staffing situation has greatly improved with the recruitment of 11 new staff for the department of agricultural education and extension. The university has stopped recruiting high school graduates into the B.Sc. Agricultural Extension and Education program. This is indeed a very sound decision because SAFE was always reminding them that they should stop mixing high school leavers with experienced mid-career students. This a great trade-off of being persistent from our side. 106 students (91 males and 15 females) have been admitted for 2009 academic year. All are experienced diploma holders in agriculture and related fields like animal production and health, crop production, and irrigation and land use. The program at SUA will complete the eight full cycles with the graduation of 70 students of the 8 th intake group which included 19 women at end of 2009. SAFE Alumni Associations 7
Several associations have been formed but there is pressing need for them to become more active in order to play their genuine role of nurturing the program in their respective countries. A general assembly of Alumni association at Haramaya (Ethiopia) has been convened to review progresses, to discuss the planned activities, to look for ways of strengthening the association and securing legal identity of the association. Alumni Association in Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana are expected to produce their annual bulletin containing members directory and proceedings of a workshop, while Alumni associations in Mali and Burkina Faso will produce a joint bulletin before end of 2009. Members of the Mali alumni association actively participated in the supervision of SEPs in their respective regions, thereby making supervision much easier for lecturers and students. Regional Networking Activities We have organized a Regional Networking Workshop in Ethiopia to share experiences and explore ways of improving the training of extension professionals and how to cope with the emerging training needs and demands in the four East African countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi). We facilitated an exchange visit for a team of top management from Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) to Haramaya University to share experiences on midcareer program, while Hawasa, Bunda and Abomey Calavi are expected to visit University of Cape Coast in November, 2009. SAFE has supported one member of staff at Bunda College to attend the 43 rd Annual Conference of the South African Society for Agricultural Extension held in South Africa in May 2009. Ahmadu Bello University and Bayero University have strengthened the institutional capacity of their SAFE Management committee through regular exchange visits. ABU and BUK have organized interactive sessions facilitated by the former Vice Chancellor of UCC (Ghana) on how to sustain the SAFE programs in Nigeria. The major conclusions of those sessions were: 8
A strong powered committee set up to work on avenues to sustain the programs; Sellable short courses that are demand driven should be developed to reach out to both public and private sector to raise fund and; Write concept note (proposals) for submission to other international donors. SAFE East and Southern Africa Coordinator (Dr. Jeff Mutimba) will participate in the symposium at University of Tsukuba, Japan scheduled in early November, 2009 and present a paper on The role of universities in food security and safety : Perspectives based on the Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education. SAFE s Involvement in SAA New Extension Project We have identified several universities/colleges in the four focus countries to implement the Human Resource Development component of the proposal to BMGF. We have also identified potential lecturer candidates for MSc. and PhD training and finalized the admission procedures for most of them. Conducted stakeholder consultative workshops in the four countries. Finally, we have started the training needs assessment survey in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali and Uganda. Challenges The main challenges as outlined last year in my report remain almost the same because most of them require a longer period of time to be removed. Those include: Low level of female intake at some universities. Shortage of qualified lecturers (especially females) in agricultural extension and related fields. Low level of lecturers motivation. 9
Insufficient financial contribution from domestic sources to sustain the SEPs and the program in general. Rigid entry requirements for potential students. Frequent industrial strikes in Nigeria. Strategies to Address the Challenges Affirmative action: putting in place admission policies that ensure at least 25 % of the places are reserved for females and give special consideration to females from fields of study such as food science, home economics, nutrition, etc. Establish a special scholarship Program for female mid-career candidates and female faculty members. Mobilize stakeholders and domestic resources to ensure the sustainability of the off-campus Supervised Enterprise Projects (SEPs) Maintaining strong and firm linkages with key stakeholders should be pursued as a strategy to deal with core problems (shortage of staff, budget, vehicles, and facilities) Plan for 2010 Complete training needs assessment in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali and Uganda. Organize stakeholder workshops to discuss the findings of the assessment and seek relevant recommendations for curriculum content. Develop course modules for distance education with focus on value chain concept in involving all participating institutions. Pursue with Winrock International the possibilities for funding from other donors. Develop short course modules and instructional materials to be used to train Lead Development Agents (DAs) and Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) at the ATVETCs (Agricultural Technical Vocational Education and Training Colleges) in Ethiopia. 10
Conduct an internal evaluation of the program at Bunda College and Kwadaso College. Support the newly established Technology Villages in most of the institutions. Graduate four institutions (Ahmadu Bello University, Rural Polytechnic Inistitute for Training and Applied Research/IPR, University of Abomey Calavi, and Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso) from direct financial support. Hold a regional networking workshop for sharing experiences among SAFE partner institutions in West Africa. Co-organize (SAA/SAFE) the Borlaug Memorial Symposium. Organize SEPs workshops at all institutions. Provide assistance to Alumni associations to enable them evolve into professional associations and become more active in participating in SAFE programs. Hold annual staff retreat. 11
SAFE Student Statistics from 1993 to October 2009 SAFE Program Universities/Colleges and Countries Graduated Current Male Female Total Male Female Total Total University of Cape Coast, Ghana (B.Sc.) 233 68 301 43 9 52 353 Kawadaso Agric. College, Ghana (Dip) 214 51 265 117 21 138 403 Haramaya, Ethiopia (B.Sc.) 265 46 311 53 4 57 368 Hawasa, Ethiopia (B.Sc.) 18 2 20 48 12 60 80 Makerere, Uganda (B.Sc.) 102 69 171 13 4 17 188 Sokoine, Tanzania (B.Sc.) 278 75 353 196 57 253 606 IPR/IFRA, Mali (Maîtrise) 52 10 62 81 9 90 152 Samanko Centre, Mali (Dip) 54 19 73 16 9 25 98 Ahmadu Bello, Nigeria (B.Sc.) 49 4 53 50 7 57 110 Bayero University, Nigeria (B.Sc) 0 0 0 32 3 35 35 Abomey-Calavi, Benin (B.Sc.) 9 2 11 51 5 56 67 Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso (B.Sc.) 17 1 18 30 6 36 54 Bunda College, Malawi (B.Sc.) 3 1 4 29 9 38 42 SUB-TOTAL 1,294 348 1,642 759 155 914 2,556 SCHOLARSHIPS Graduated Current Male Female Total Male Female Total Total Diploma 6-6 - - 0 6 B.Sc. 29 3 32 - - 0 32 M.Sc. 50 8 58 3-3 61 PhD 2 1 3 3-3 6 SUB-TOTAL 87 12 99 6 0 6 105 GRADN TOTAL 1,381 360 1,741 765 155 920 2,661 12