15th RUFORUM Annual General Meeting (AGM)

2-6 December 2019. The 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) was held at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana . It was the first AGM to be hosted in West Africa following RUFORUM’s strategic geographical expansion in 2014 to include Universities in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, Sierra Leone and Senegal. 

The 15th AGM ran under the theme: Delivering on Africa’s Universities Agenda for Higher Agricultural Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (AHESTI): What will it take?

The AGM is one of the key activities under Knowledge Hub programmatic pillar of the RUFORUM Vision 2030 strategy, which is also meant to be a vehicle for facilitating universities, stakeholders and key partners to synthesize emerging lessons and best practices, and to document and disseminate information, knowledge and innovations. The theme for this 15th AGM is “Delivering on Africa’s Universities Agenda for Higher Agricultural Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (AHESTI): What will it take?”. As such, the 15th AGM will highlight and deliberate on key developments within the network whilst exploring what it takes to deliver on the transformation of Africa through strengthening Agricultural Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation. 

The discussion focused on, but not limited to, the following specific objectives:

1. Examine key issues in regards to Africa’s Universities Agenda for AHESTI
2. Review and approve minutes of the 14th RUFORUM Annual General Meeting, held on 22 October 2018, at the University of Nairobi towers, Chandaria auditorium.
3. Receive and approve reports for the Activity Year July 2018 – June 2019 and Annual Work plan and Budget for the Activity Year July 2019 – June 2020
4. Provide a platform for networking opportunities and facilitate exchange of experiences, lessons and good practices with particular interest for the West African universities (an exhibition display by all West African universities)- making it a West African affairs
5. Provide opportunity for scientists, researchers and students to present their work
6. Advocate for policy engagement/ renewing/strengthening partnerships
7. Recognize the contributions of the Government of Ghana to RUFORUM

Related: 25/11 Agricultural universities need greater investment – RUFORUM