By: Ifeanyi Monyei – Group head, Strategy and Growth (Venture Garden Group & Greenhouse Capital Lois Nanono- Program Officer, Business Development Services- RUFORUM Secretariat. TAGDev 2.0 Think Tank Series Paper #6 1.0 Executive Summary: Architecting Africa’s Innovation Economy The current mechanism for translating African university intellectual capital into commercial value is structurally inadequate. It is dominated by the Observer Model, a transactional, low-commitment relationship where the private sector acts as a passive advisor or sponsor. This failure mode results in a severe market inefficiency: a glut of unvalidated university IP coexisting with acute, unmet industrial innovation needs, fuelling the Venture […]

Advancing Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains through Strengthening Transdisciplinary Skills and Cooperation in East African Doctoral Education – ‘ADVALUE’ addresses the need for qualified doctorates and future academic professionals in agricultural sciences who impact the research and teaching capacities of their Higher Education Institutions and contribute to local and regional achievement of SDG goals with the development of sustainable agricultural value chains. This training forms part of a series of online workshops, delivered as part of Module 4: Sustainable Agricultural Value Chain Development developed within the ADVALUE project. The pilot training introduces students to contemporary issues in global value chain management, and […]

RUFORUM and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAiR) convened the Transformative Teaching of Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, on 11-12 December 2025. The workshop brought together more than 50 participants from different parts of the world, including universities, research institutes, civil society, and private sector actors. The meeting launched the Collective Action on Transformative Education | Open-Source NUS Curriculum Network, managed by RUFORUM and facilitated by GFAiR, with funding support from the European Union and the International Foundation for Science (IFS). The Nairobi workshop established three practical foundations for delivery in 2026. These […]

8-9 May, 2026, Haramaya, Ethiopia The International Conference on Building Climate Resilient Agriculture, Health and Tourism for Sustainable Livelihood Through AI and Technological Innovations aims to provide a global platform for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, industry leaders, and development practitioners to exchange knowledge, share innovative research findings and explore interdisciplinary solutions to enhance climate-resilient agriculture, health and tourism through integration of AI and technological innovations in the context of Sub-Saharan African countries. Find out more about the event and how you can participate under the link below https://event.haramaya.edu.et/ 

1.0 Background Agroecology has emerged as a critical and transformative approach for addressing Africa’s persistent food and nutrition security challenges while simultaneously safeguarding environmental sustainability, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, food systems are increasingly under pressure from climate variability, land degradation, declining soil fertility, loss of biodiversity, and socio-economic inequalities that disproportionately affect smallholder farmers, women, and youth. Conventional agricultural approaches have often struggled to respond adequately to these complex and interconnected challenges, highlighting the need for more holistic, inclusive, and sustainable food system solutions. Agroecology offers such a pathway by integrating ecological principles, local knowledge, and socio-economic […]

Relevant education leaders, trade development authorities, university managers, chambers of commerce, and policy regulators are invited to participate in this high-level webinar on Institutionalizing Problem-Based Learning (PBL) for Sustainable Agropreneurship and National Development. Led by the Climate-Smart Agropreneurship Education for Livelihood and Sustainability in Eastern and Southern Africa (AgrGROW) partnership – bringing together agro-HEIs in Malawi, Uganda, Denmark, Finland, and RUFORUM, this strategic dialogue will showcase a transformative PBL model designed to produce market-ready, climate-smart agribusiness graduates, with a strong emphasis on empowering young women. The session will highlight proven curricula blueprints and pedagogical toolkits, demonstrate how student-centered learning strengthens […]

By: Aron Okello I give thanks to God for the journey that brought me from a small subsistence-farming household to a university graduation gown and now to a classroom where I stand as a teacher and mentor. When I look back at where I began and where I am today, I am overwhelmed with emotion. Only tears can define my joy and immense gratitude. I lost my father when I was in primary three (3). From that moment, my mother became everything – a parent, provider, protector and teacher. She depended entirely on subsistence farming to feed me and my […]

By: Ifeanyi Monyei – Group head, Strategy and Growth – Venture Garden Group & Greenhouse Capital Lois Nanono- Program Officer, Business Development Services – RUFORUM Secretariat   The Crisis No One Names: What Happens After the Grant Ends Across African universities, innovation dies quietly—not in the classroom, not in the lab, but in the dead space that follows the last disbursement of a grant. It is here, in the weeks and months after donor funding runs out, that some of the continent’s most promising ideas fade into academic archives. A prototype sits on a shelf. A research insight remains trapped […]

By: Ifeanyi Monyei – Group head, Strategy and Growth (Venture Garden Group & Greenhouse Capital Lois Nanono- Program Officer, Business Development Services- RUFORUM Secretariat                                                   TAGDev 2.0 Think Tank Series Paper #5

It is with deep sadness that the RUFORUM Secretariat learnt about the passing of Ms. Pamela Tumwebaze, the Director of Student Affairs at our member university – Uganda Christian University. On behalf of all the colleagues at the RUFORUM Secretariat and Network, the Executive Secretary extends deep-felt condolences to the family and the university fraternity. Our prayers are with the family and university community during this trying time. May her soul rest in eternal peace.

lire l'article complet ici Lancement projet USSEIN-ASEC/TAGDev 2.0 au service de l’autonomisation des jeunes et des femmes – YouTube  

By: Ifeanyi Monyei – Group head, Strategy and Growth (Venture Garden Group & Greenhouse Capital Lois Nanono – Program Officer, Business Development Services- RUFORUM Secretariat Executive Summary Across Africa, we in the university community are grappling with a deep design problem that often presents itself as a cultural one. We celebrate innovation weeks, launch hubs and incubators, host pitch competitions, and articulate ambitious strategies around entrepreneurship. Yet the invisible operating system that shapes behaviour; our promotion criteria, resource allocation rules, legal protocols, assessment systems, and cultural signals still rewards academic insularity, risk avoidance, and conventional scholarship. The result is a […]

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By Evaline Acan When Naiga Harriet looks back on her journey, she sees more than academic milestones—she sees a story of resilience and a commitment to give back. Born and raised in a modest farming household in Wakiso District, Harriet is the last-born in a family of seven. Growing up, education often felt like a distant dream. Financial constraints meant that continuing in school was uncertain, and like many children from rural farming families, her future seemed fragile. That changed in 2002, when she was enrolled in the Compassion Uganda programme while in Primary Two. The support she received carried […]

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Read full article here

Read full article here

Read the full article here

Abigael N. Otinga1*., Rick Gage2., Mercy Karanja2, Olivia Karanja2, Amsale Mengistu2 and Anthony Egeru1 1Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), Makerere University Main Campus, Plot 151/155 Garden Hill Road, Kampala 2MPATAPO Learning Community, 2312 West Boston Street, Apt 202 Seattle WA 98199 USA *Corresponding Author: a.otinga@ruforum.org TAGDev 2.0 Think Tank Series Paper #4 Introduction Across Africa, universities are being asked to do much more than produce graduates and publish papers. They are expected to catalyse inclusive, climate‑resilient transformation of agriculture and agri‑food systems, create decent work for a rapidly growing youth population, and contribute directly to national […]

Duncan Ongeng Department of Food Science and Postharvest Technology Gulu University, Uganda A snapshot In contemporary Africa, gone are the days when universities were largely seen as ivory towers driving the elitists’ agenda. Time has come for African higher education institutions to re-orient to reflect the practical realities of African societal development and transformation needs. This is particularly important because of the increasing demand for African universities to do more to facilitate co-creation and to mediate meaningful delivery of development-driven solutions enabling societal prosperity in the continent. This article brings to the fore the complex power wedges that entangle African […]