Our research programmes address five broad thematic areas, which are revised by stakeholders every 3-4 years. Our current research programmes involve:

• Engaging with communities to strengthen innovation, capacity and knowledge generation
• Increasing productivity and enhancing sustainable natural resource use and management
• Risk analysis and designing coping strategies for mitigating against climate variability and change, and associated crop-animal-human health epidemics
• Exploiting the potential of indigenous vegetables for food security and nutrition
• Strengthening leadership, management and cross-cutting professional skills of university managers, lecturers and students.

The research agenda and programme of activities are intended to situate African agriculture firmly in the global context, with an emphasis on high quality, policy-relevant research. Quality is achieved through a dynamic support system that features peer review and technical and literature backup. In addition, workshops on research methodology and other research skills enhances research skills and expose the network to relevant development.

RUFORUM is moving to enhance its research programmes by helping agricultural faculties deepen disciplinary skills at the same time as broadening application and workplace skills. These dual sets of development skills are critical in achieving the adoption targets and impacts.  RUFORUM uses its programmes to:

• generate technologies and processes to increase productivity and incomes of especially smallholder farmers,
• develop competencies and structures that support more efficient and effective delivery of research for development processes, and
• develop quality and relevant human resource capacity. The research agenda is underpinned by RUFORUM's mission, vision and strategic goals to enhance relevance and impact of universities research, training and outreach, especially in terms of contributing to increasing income and productivity of small holder farmers.

The RUFORUM research programme specifies critical areas of outlay which include:

• The universities mainstreamed within the NARS with Universities and their partners becoming development as well as research agencies.
• Substantial farmer involvement in research using participatory methods, in prioritising outreach and scaling up issues.
• Innovation as key to development
• Systems based research agenda that moves beyond technology and recognizes that the problems faced by farmers are not simply those of low productivity, but of access to markets for inputs and outputs, and other constraints (such as HIV/AIDS and gender inequalities).