The role of higher education and capacity building in poverty

eradication

Professor Dr Ruth Haug

Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

The knowledge economies

1. The World Bank has gone through a paradigm change under Wolfensohn, investing in secondary and tertiary education based on the success of India and East-Asia (technology and natural science). (Stiglitz, 2005)

2. Universities in developing countries are too academic and remote from practical needs of society

Higher Education and PRSPs: Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia

To what degree have PRSPs influenced agricultural universities

What is needed for successful tranformation of agricultural universities

What lessons can be learned and recommendations for the future

Education important in PRSPs

Ag. Education barely mentionned in PRSPs Quality of Ag Education is not a priority

(interdisciplinarity, problem solving capacity) Increased student enrolment and physical

infrastructure a priority Universities are not receiving the necessary resources

to play a role in poverty reduction Graduates lack practical skills and entrepreneurship A great need for relevant and affordable teaching and

training materials

Capacity building: Lessons learned from 30 years of institutional collaboration

From one-way students and infrastructural investment to two-way students and joint degrees/joint research

From guaranteed jobs to self/ unemployment and braindrain

From technical training to interdisciplinary programmes with a poverty focus and ”leaders of tomorrow” drive

Challenge: How to transfer the capacity which has been built into poverty

eradication Need for structural changes and a focus on

quality in education Need to assess the impact of higher

education and research on poverty eradication

Need for human and monetary resources to utilize the capacity