Latest Updates

The RUFORUM Secretariat is pleased to announce a call for PhD scholarships available through the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) funding support. These scholarships are targeting both in-country/in-region (sub-Saharan Africa) applicants to support selected RUFORUM regional PhD Programmes in the Eastern and Central Africa (ECA). The scholarships are tenable for 2015/16 academic period. DAAD promotes […] 0

Wageningen University (The Netherlands), the CGIAR Research Programme on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics and other international partners (see Annex 1) are recruiting PhD students for their collaborative programme entitled: Responsible life-sciences innovations for development in the digital age: Environmental Virtual Observatories for Connective Action (EVOCA) in crop, water, livestock and disease management.   […] 0

 Grants of US$ 250,000 or more for climate finance readiness activities in African countries The new Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF), housed in the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB), is launching its first call for grant proposals. African governments, NGOs, research and regional institutions are invited to apply […] 0

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) with several national and international partners are implementing a development into research project, “N2Africa- Putting Nitrogen to work for smallholder farmers in Africa” in eleven African countries including Uganda. The project seeks to build sustainable partnerships and expertise in nitrogen fixation to improve soil fertility, increase productivity, food […] 0

Prof Wim de Villiers, Dean of the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences, was appointed the new Maties Rector and Vice-Chancellor by the Stellenbosch University (SU) Council earlier today. Watch video. De Villiers (55), a Matie alumnus and medical doctor who studied and worked in England and America for 21 years, succeeds Prof Russel […] 0

As the first PhD student successfully placed under the RUFORUM Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA), Mr Anthony Mwije shares his experience of the programme. When I saw the RUFORUM GTA advert, I knew my chance to enroll for PhD studies in a University of my choice had arrived. Immediately, I started working on my application for […] 0

Andrea Johnson, a Programme Officer at the Carnegie Cooperation of New York Foundation (CCNY) visited the RUFORUM Secretariat in Kampala on 1st April, 2015. Her visit was part of the continued collaboration between the two organizations, established since October 2012 through a joint project entitled Training World–Class Agricultural Scientists in Africa. This project aims to […] 0

  RUFORUM in collaboration with the Innovative Agricultural Research Initiative (iAGRI) organised a training on Scientific Data Management (SDM) from 30 March to 4 April 2015 in Morogoro, Tanzania. The training is one of the core activities under iAGRI’s capacity building component. It targeted the third cohort of iAGRI sponsored students who are currently at […] 0

The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) is collaborating with its consortium members in the implementation of INTRA ACP Mobility Scheme which supports the higher education cooperation between countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the pacific (ACP). The scheme aims to promote sustainable development and poverty alleviation by increasing the availability of […] 0

Written by Prossy Nandudu – New Vision The growing population in Africa calls for more innovation in research to come up with crop varieties that are high yielding and tolerant to pests and diseases and effects of climate change. This is the reason why the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in partnership […] 0

During the week of 13 – 17 the April, 2015, the RUFORUM Secretariat together with development partners will be meeting in Stellenbosch University meeting to  contribute towards the  RUFORUM Strategic Business Plan 2015-2020. Setting the scene for this meeting, are reflections from Prof. Malcolm Blackie, an Independent Consultant and a member of the RUFORUM International […] 0

In the mid ‘90’s, Rockefeller Foundation helped selected FORUM university faculties and departments create special computer labs and networks, equipped with CD-ROM, in order to access bibliographic and abstracting databases in the agricultural sciences, particularly TEEAL, the full-text CD-ROM agricultural library of about 130 journals.  RUFORUM has continued to work with its network—organizing training workshops […] 0

ITOCA in collaboration with Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University is pleased to announce the TEEAL Post-Graduate Research Paper Competition 2015 for post graduate students from six eligible African countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda) to obtain TEEAL, The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library for their institution as well as prize money. TEEAL […] 0

By Irene Friesenhahn Irene Friesenhahn rounds up sources of online information, highlighting key initiatives on Africa’s higher education Several organisations address higher education in Africa through their work. The Carnegie Corporation of New York and UN agencies including UNESCO and the World Bank provide great online resources. In 1980 UNESCO set up the African Network […] 0

The University of Nairobi (UoN) will join other regional universities in bidding to host one of the centres of excellence being funded by the World Bank. This was revealed during a consultative meeting between The University of Nairobi (UoN) and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). The World Bank African Higher […] 0

The RUFORUM information and communication technology (ICT) program was established in 2009. One of its goals is to support the member universities to implement technology-mediated teaching and learning. The intended outcome is member universities improving the quality of learning delivery. When this happens quality students would be produced and in turn contribute towards solving Africa’s […] 0

Over the years, universities in Africa have sought opportunities to send their staff for post-graduate training abroad in a bid to strengthen research and training, at very high costs. The loss of faculty for 4 to 5 years has negatively affected universities. In order to meet the growing demand for Doctoral level scientists in Africa, […] 0

When enterprising farmer Eric Galotshoge had the idea of importing a herd of dairy goats and producing goats’ milk to satisfy a burgeoning local market, he thought he was onto a sure thing. As a farmer with an entrepreneurial turn of mind, he did his market research and found that a strong demand existed from […] 0

As part of efforts to ensure effective partnerships with user-led processes and thus engage in articulating demand for relevant research and capacity building, RUFORUM is an active partner and leader of Work Package – Capacities in the EU-supported project “Platform for African-European Partnerships for Research and Development (PAEPARD). The PAEPARD Project is led by the […] 0

Written by Damtew Teferra Ph.D. Dr. Damtew Teferra wrote the discussion paper on Investment in Higher Education in Africa and led the higher education expert team which developed the background papers in the lead up to the Summit. He is a professor of higher education at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, founding director of […] 0