Capacity strengthening in teaching and facilitated experiential collective innovation at three previously disadvantaged universities

Sector

Agriculture education

Project budget

The maximum budget for this project is € 1.6 million.

Organisations

This project has been developed by the University of Limpopo, the lead party, together with the University of Fort Hare and the University of Venda. The tender for this project expired on 3 May 2010. Nuffic awarded this tender to International Centre for development oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA), which has formed a consortium with Wageningen University (WU), Centre for Development Innovation (CDI) and Maastricht School of Management (MSM).

Project description

South Africa is one of the most inequitable countries in the world. Roughly 46% of all South African households is considered poor, with a majority living in rural areas. The government is committed to rural development, but service delivery is hampered by a large skills shortage in the service sector.

Due to the lack of capacity to alleviate poverty and stimulate rural development, universities are being given a new and wider role in economic and national development.

Good skills are essential

Skills development is a specific priority that requires a lot of attention in order to fill the most severe skills gaps. Skills development, however, is hampered by inequalities that continue to have a negative impact on the educational system.

Historically disadvantaged universities suffer particular constraints in terms of capacity and resources. This has a negative impact on the quality and relevance of education and leads to high unemployment rates among graduates and a failure to effectively engage in rural development.

These universities need to provide solutions to rural communities through engagement, training and research focused on improving livelihoods. A way to achieve this is to create partnerships between educational institutions and collaborations with stakeholders such as the Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Research Council and Farmer Organisations.

Focus on action research

These collaborations should focus on practical engagement in action research. The need to complement traditional approaches to agricultural research and development with integrated multi-disciplinary, participatory approaches and methods is crucial in this process. It requires a number of skills:

• teamworking skills
• negotiation skills
• conflict resolution skills
• resource mobilisation skills

The capacity of three universities to deliver skilled graduates will be strengthened through:

• integration of experiential learning and collective innovation into curricula
• student training and action research initiatives with rural communities
• specific attention to skills and gender constraints

The project also aims to establish a dedicated support framework for collective innovation at the regional and national level that can act as a platform for peer review, quality control and sustainability.

This project will be implemented by a consortium of three universities (Limpopo, Fort Hare and Venda). These historically disadvantaged universities are all located in rural areas.

The universities have active In-House Committees (IHCs) which will lead the activities under the umbrella of CINSA (Collective Innovation Network of Southern Africa). CINSA is a national network that comprises representatives of various stakeholders. The Dutch implementing partner or consortium will also join this network.