January, 2023 January, 2026
Participants: Uganda Martyrs University & Mountains of the Moon University (UG), Universite Gaston Berger & Université du Sine Saloum El-Hâdj Ibrahima NIASS – Senegal, University of Kara & Catholique de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, Unité Universitaire du Togo, University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf – Germany, and Vrije Universiteit Brussels – Belgium.
Description
Agriculture and farming are a major source of livelihoods in the countries of Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), contributing between 15 % and 40 % of GDP. It provides a means of survival to over 70% while employing at least 34% of the active workforce, yet its potential is heavily underexploited. One of the reasons is poor
connection of tertiary education as the knowledge base with immediate agricultural producers (farmers), majority of whom are women deprived of access to means of production.
BASIS project addresses the aforementioned issues by introducing interventions in higher education curricula towards a more field-based and competence-oriented knowledge and practical skills that are highly valued at the labour market. This is intended to establish systemic exchange between the tertiary education and smallholder farmers in SSA. Accordingly, BASIS project intends to achieve two specific objectives:
- To reshape student practice and shift it from teaching to competence-based practical work, and introduce farm placements to enhance student employability.
- To build capacities and strengthen policies of partner HEIs to promote social inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility of agricultural
education. It is hoped that project outcomes will create opportunities for further innovation and modernization of higher education and agricultural production in SSA, especially equipping higher education institutions, their staff and students with essential mechanisms for engaging smallholder farmers to achieve sustainable advancement and growth in agriculture.