Transforming African Agricultural Universities to meaningfully contribute to Africa’s growth and development (TAGDev) Program implementation at Egerton University

TAGDev is a scholarship program in partnership with MasterCard Foundation and Regional University Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). The Program is implemented at Egerton University, Kenya and Gulu University, Uganda. The eight years (2016-2018) program focuses on experiential learning, community engagement and entrepreneurship and supports students who are bright but economically disadvantaged or from conflict regions of Africa. The percentage of female applicants for 2017 and 2018 was 36% (of 196) and 33% (of 424) respectively. In 2017, 15 students were recruited from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ghana and Tanzania. These students are in three programmes, namely, Master of Science in Community Studies and Extension, Master of Science in Agri- enterprise Development and Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. The 2018 cohort comprise of 25 undergraduates and 5 masters students drawn from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Lesotho, Somalia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Ghana. The eligible programmes in 2018 are Bachelor of Agribusiness Management, Bachelor of Science in Horticulture, Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences, Bachelor of Science in Food Science and Technology, Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education and Extension and Master of Science in Agronomy. Transformation as a result of the TAGDev program is evident at student/staff, institutional and targeted community levels. To ensure sustainable outcomes, the implementing team recommends systematic and ragogical training, facilitation and psycho-social support for staff at the institutional level automation, computer based tests for large classes, routine maintenance and projected Infrastructural support, plus institutionalization of TAGDev generated frameworks. In the next five years of the project life, TAGDev will facilitate the implementation of these recommendations to bring about the change envisioned in African agricultural universities.