About the RUFORUM 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The Annual General Meeting oversees RUFORUM’s program and management and performs such functions and tasks that it deems necessary to carry out its mandate, and accomplish its mission. RUFORUM’s Vision and Mission recognize the largely unfulfilled role that Universities play in contributing to the well-being of small-scale farmers and economic development of countries in Africa. This contribution is made through building leadership and management capacity of university academic and administrative staff, quality training of graduates entering the rural development and research for development workforce and the production and dissemination of demand-driven, development-oriented research that is defined and applied through participatory processes linking researchers, farmers, policy-makers, and business. One of the key avenues for reaching policymakers is through generating and disseminating policy documents but this should be supplemented with face-to-face meetings especially since policy-makers may not find time to read and internalize the messages being conveyed in the published policy briefs. In this regard, efforts must be made by universities to better understand the needs of policy makers and policy making processes for engagement. The rapid expansion in the number of universities and student enrolments coupled with several developments that are rapidly manifesting at regional and national levels provides further justification for the need to engage with policy makers at the highest level. Clearly, a Network such as RUFORUM and its AGM is well placed to provide a forum to deliberate on pathways for addressing existing and emerging challenges.

 

This 18th AGM has a particular focus on engaging governments and development partners to support Higher Education in Africa. The theme for this 18th AGM is “Strengthening Africa’s Agri-food Systems in the Post COVID-19 Era – Opportunities and Challenges” As such the 18th RUFORUM AGM is convened with the following objectives:

  1. Provide a forum for the RUFORUM Governance organs to reflect on progress made on the implementation of  various programs and initiatives of the RUFORUM network;
  2. Provide a platform for RUFORUM Secretariat to sensitize the Network members about the 2nd RUFORUM Operational Plan for the RUFORUM Vision 2030 Strategy (The African Universities’ Agenda for Agricultural Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation - AHESTI) which consolidates and builds upon the achievements of the first Operational Plan (2018-2022), which sought to attract and nurture (through the transformative process of learning and knowledge accumulation) superior postgraduate talent into agriculture in Africa to achieve significant economies of scope and scale in rigorous and relevant training;
  3. Profile and inform the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe and other Development Partners and other stakeholders about RUFORUM engagements at regional and national levels, including, among others, RUFORUM support for Higher Education in Africa;
  4. Provide opportunity for scientists, researchers and students to share  their scientific  findings and experiences
  5. Provide a platform for RUFORUM members to establish partnerships and/or teams to respond to various opportunities; and
  6. Engage governments to support Higher Education in Africa and reflect on progress made in the operationalization of the five (5) continental initiatives in various countries

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