Indispensable institutions

In appreciation of agriculture’s role in national development, international donors used to invest heavily in universities and faculties of agriculture (Hobbs et al. 1998). From 1964 to 1990, the World Bank financed 41 projects to the tune of $ 713 million, supporting universities (both agricultural and general) in 25 countries. However, the World Bank later reduced such programmes, focusing on primary education instead. It argued that the returns from primary education were higher than those from tertiary education. Many donor agencies followed that example.

Whereas the reasoning may indeed have been sound for some countries with very low literacy and numeracy at the time, the focus on primary education is certainly outdated today. Meaningful progress towards knowledge economies will not be possible without higher education. The opportunities of globalisation are largely bypassing rural areas of developing countries; and that will remain true so long as higher education in agriculture stays neglected.

All over the world, poverty is predominantly a rural problem. Agriculture and related industries have a greater impact on poor people’s fates than any other business sector. Without progress here, the UN Millennium Development Goals in the fight against poverty will not be met.

Higher-education institutions are highly relevant for rural and agricultural development. First of all, they train the next generation of experts, researchers and extension specialists. Moreover, their research is relevant for boosting rural economies. Some universities directly engage in extension work. Messages from faculties help to disseminate new insights to farmers. Some universities even organise farmer field schools.

Through advocacy and dialogue, universities contribute to basing policies on evidence. Moreover, universities can also help to monitor and evaluate projects and programmes.

New models of graduate training have emerged in Africa. They prove that networks can play an important role. Some of these networks offer traditional, face-to-face courses, while others focus on distance learning.
Many developing countries have taken up distance education as a viable option for delivering tertiary education. Open universities have become common, and many traditional universities have added distance education to their activities as a way of combating the issue of large student numbers on campus.

Distance education enables a people to pursue university education without leaving their localities or their jobs for full-time face-to-face education. Although improvements in informaiton and communitications technology are facilitating the adoption of distance education in many universities around the world, the rapidly expanding open universities of developing countries also need constant strengthening in agricultural curricula.

Because of their vital role, there is a need to beef up universties’ performance. Otherwise, benefits will not be maximised, and rural progress will stay below potential. Three issues are vital.
As these challenges are interrelated, they should be tackled holistically. Various approaches to improving research and networking make sense.
In terms of networking, there are some promising developments, for instance in Africa (see box below). Nonetheless, many universities, particularly in poor countries, are still hardly in a position to rise to the challenges. Colleges will certainly need more money to rise to their full potential, but unless they invest their resources well, any amount of additional funding will be of little help.

Steps must be taken to improve teaching methods and curricula for students enrolled in agricultural programmes. Currently, many universities only resort to lecturing and final exams. They do not teach students adequate problem-solving abilities. To do so, they would have to resort to experimental learning, working in small groups and undertaking more case studies.

For lecturers to spend more time on research and advocacy, they need to be relieved of some burdens such as tutorials or class tests. Graduate assistants should be entrusted with relevant assignments.

Moreover, too few universities offer courses in policy analysis. Graduates leave school with little knowledge of rural-development affairs. Even courses in agricultural economics tend to skip the macroeconomic topics that would enable students to link agriculture to the general economy. Neither the knowledge of statistics nor skills in information technology are adequately taught.

Another smart innovation would be to allow students to participate in curriculum development. Students could then serve as bridges between universities and farms, conveying extension messages on the one hand and gaining practical experience on the other. Knowledge gained from farmers could enrich university curricula. Such an approach would help to build knowledge bases beneficial to both the universities and the farming communities.