About CHAIN

CHAIN project development was motived by the HSWT long standing cooperation history with the SSA HEIs and industry leaders in agriculture and rural development and extensive knowledge on existing HE practices in teaching and research and gaps needed to be bridged in HE educational relevance, quality and collaboration in agricultural field. The Action scope and design was proposed on the basis of actual identification of needs and issues to be addressed, coupled with the results from recent relevant independent research conducted in the field, e.g. Strengthening Higher Agricultural Education in Africa (World Bank, 2019) with the assistance of regional agro-innovation and education networks including Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture and African Union Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme.

Albeit a number of projects granted to support agricultural field development in SSA for the past decade, unequal benefits to and participation of different HEIs and HE systems can be observed. Moreover, strengthening of innovation capacities from bottom up was somewhat neglected due to the comprehensiveness of intervention (building capacities through HEIs human resources, equipment and structures development and educational programs improvements). The importance of the HEIs transformation in the field thus remains high and urgent given the global developments especially exacerbated in COVID19 era – further increase in poverty of least developed and remote places, inaccessibility of modern equipment and knowledge brought by the 4th industrial revolution to these places and stakeholders, etc.

While agri-food systems (especially topics around food safety and security) become ever more important topic on global development agendas, and with over 43 % of SSA inhabitants as of 2020 working in the field having limited agricultural education and training, the role of HEIs (offering agricultural study programs with diffuse effect on workforce quality) in socio-economic transformation through agri-food system developments becomes of immense and strategic importance, exerting profound effect on the pace of a country’s development.  Regardless of the detected trend of economic diversification and non-farm employment expansion in SSA, the economies remain strongly dependent on agriculture and allied agri-food systems driving societal innovation, development and growth (Jayne et al., 2018). HEIs capacities lie at the core of a broader (agro) innovation ecosystem that includes extension systems, research and development institutes, agricultural policy research institutes, regional network organizations that support advocacy and sharing of knowledge, civil society organizations, innovation hubs, farmers and agribusinesses.

Acknowledging all the above mentioned, CHAIN reiterates the importance of the role of agricultural HEIs in the (agro) innovation ecosystem by modernization of master programs, teacher training prone to use of digital and entrepreneurial competences and creation of new value, as well as establishment of a new collaboration mechanism for innovation in the field that gathers all key stakeholders under one roof.   Through CHAIN universities gain influence on how the ecosystem operates as well as the performance of other actors. In turn, other actors of the ecosystem affect the performance of universities and their impact on development outcomes. Through this structured interaction, educational quality and relevance increase, and influence greater effectiveness of workers in all of other types of organizations. The quality of university research properly orients the activities of other organizations, while proper coordination with the private sector enables anticipation of skills sets and ensures that the skills sets of university graduates meet demands of the rapidly evolving firms in Africa’s agri-food systems diminishing the need for costly on the job training.

Scope of the Call.  CHAIN engages a multilateral and multi stakeholder partnership that enhances relevance, quality, modernisation and responsiveness of higher education in SSA enabling sustainable socio-economic growth against recent social, economic inequalities and decline in human development. Its general objective is to support modernization of agricultural education in Togo, Nigeria and Kenya by fostering a more holistic and human-centred approach to agricultural education, training and innovation. Holistic approach to agricultural education sets the ground for intersectoral optimization of resources enabling sustainable employment and growth, through involvement of interdisciplinary teams, while human centred approach to agricultural education invigorates innovation potentials in each involved actor thus contributing to fully extorted universities potentials in terms of “education value chains” whereby agriculture stakeholders enhance the ways people and organisations interact within an institution, country or a region. Through promotion of participatory learning, the project invites co-creation of outputs and outcomes by the student body.

The proposal addresses the SSA regional overarching priority on sustainable growth and jobs nested within Strand 2 – Partnerships for transformation in higher education and its sub-action for innovation in HE. In supporting innovation in HE, CHAIN seeks to increase employability of students, enhance competences of teaching and non-teaching staff to support newly designed curricula as well as innovation and collaboration and networking structures at HEIs that enable effective and efficient innovation creation and use. 

The transition to sustainable agriculture is driven by new technologies, research and innovation, and the spread of knowledge which in CHAIN project evolves around the FVC. Optimal business environment for sustainable growth, job creation and innovation is sustained through Farm to fork and Green Deal efforts towards new technology uptake and more sustainable food systems that reduce negative effects on climate change, while ensuring that farmers and consumers can benefit from it.