Domestication of tropical trees: technology development, farmer participation and implications for land use

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), agriculture is the major source of food, income andemployment and is considered as the backbone of the economy. However despite thetremendous technological developments in the world, African agriculture has remainedsmall scale, low input, rain-fed and low-tech. Major transformations are needed foragriculture to take its place in driving development. Human capital remains the mostimportant factor for transforming Africa’s agriculture. Higher education is increasinglyrecognized as a critical aspect of the development process, especially with the growingawareness of the role of science, technology and innovation in economic renewal. Criticalneeds for tertiary agricultural education (TAE) in Africa include upgrading teaching andlearning programmes and processes, improving access to locally relevant educationmaterials, breaking down the institutional and programmatic separation of universities andnational Agricultural research institutions, systematically upgrading knowledge and skillsof researchers and educators, and creating attractive career opportunities for women andyouth through agribusiness skills development. The challenge today is for TAE institutionsto link their programmes more effectively to community and industrial development andalso to global issues like climate change, food security, nutrition and health, and povertyreduction. This would justify the continued investment in TAE. The food and financialcrisis is a challenge to Africa’s agriculture, but also an opportunity since it has enhancedthe interest of national, regional and international policymakers and donors to supportmore investment in agricultural productivity. This will in turn favor the elaboration of welldesigned and contextualized tertiary agricultural education which can provide scientificexpertise, technical innovations and training in strategic areas of education for ruralpeople, industry and policy makers. Strategic partnerships will need to be establishedbetween African and non African training institutions to share experiences on bestpractices and to scale out innovative capacity strengthening initiatives.