The RUFORUM Blog

“African Universities are in a change process- they are no longer ‘ivory towers’, but part of practitioners championing rural transformation in Africa”

Over the years, it has become increasing important for the RUFORUM Secretariat to strengthen its brand as the focal point for Agricultural Capacity Building for Africa referred to as “Training the next Generation of Scientists for Africa”. To achieve this, the Secretariat works with its member based universities to realize its vision – “a vibrant agricultural sector linked to African universities which produce high-performing graduates and high-quality research responsive to the demands of Africa’s farmers for innovations and able to generate sustainable livelihoods and national economic development”.

Exhibitions are one of the channels that the RUFORUM network uses to profile its activities and innovations to consumers of its products and services and the wider public. The exhibition platform during the “Celebrating FARA @15” conference, 24-28 November 2014 that took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, provided an opportunity for the RUFORUM Secretariat and member Universities to profile their  R&D activities.  A total of seven (7) exhibition booths were occupied by the RUFORUM network at the “Celebrating FARA@15” week. RUFORUM Secretariat arranged for seven universities from the network to participate in the exhibition, namely; Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) from Malawi; Kyambogo University from Uganda; University of Eldoret from Kenya; University of Nairobi from Kenya; Makerere University from Uganda; University of Zambia from Zambia; the RUFORUM Secretariat hosted in Uganda also had an exhibition stand. Click here to download full report