Technology and Transfer Pact

As part of the launch event for the 'Training Pact with Africa' on 20 May 2019, Federal Minister Dr Gerd Müller announced the 'Technology and Transfer Pact' (TAP) – a collaboration between the ministry and HSWT. While the 'Training Pact with Africa' is intended to create a broader basis for application-oriented, practical and academic training, the 'Technology and Transfer Pact' aims to promote practical and concrete applications on site. This addresses the problem of academic training lacking practical orientation as well as the lack of knowledge transfer into agricultural practice. A digital launch event on 18 August 2020 attended by HSWT together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) marked the start of the 'Technology and Transfer Pact' with Africa. TAP focuses on the interface between supply and demand for innovations that increase value creation in African agriculture, in particular small-scale agriculture. As part of this endeavour, promising project ideas are identified, the implementation of these ideas is supported and evaluated, and the structures between universities, as well as with industrial enterprises and other institutes where possible, are supported. Both approaches are intended to support application-oriented training and the transfer of knowledge to facilitate the implementation of innovations by means of capacity development. The fields of action cover the entire value chain, from innovative methods of cultivation and locally adapted seeds, to adapted mechanisation, linking training and further education with innovations, all the way through to improved post-harvest protection, storage and subsequent processing on site. This helps to create new jobs, supporting small-scale farming operations in their efforts to sustainably increase production and income and shifting value creation to rural areas of Africa. TAP and its planned measures principally focus on the main topics and selected value chains of the GIC country packages (see Fig. 1)

The Technology and Transfer Pact aims to establish and anchor application-oriented teaching, including the transfer of this teaching into practice. This will be achieved through the implementation of three objectives: supporting the formation of structures to facilitate the implementation of technology and application ideas, selecting and implementing technology and application ideas, and expanding application-oriented teaching and trilateral cooperation (see Fig. 2).

The first objective, supporting the formation of structures to facilitate the implementation of technology and transfer ideas, is intended to provide long-term support to the African partner universities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Togo with the independent initiation and support of innovative projects. This involves training implementers at the partner universities. The focus here is on the exchange of information and experience between the partner universities and the application of the train-the-trainers approach, as well as on achieving the greatest possible multiplier effect. The formation of local structures is also supported. Together with the partner universities, a local advice network is to be established as a central measure for the formation of structures. This network will include the partner universities, industry partners, Green Innovation Centres, consultancy organisations and NGOs, for example. It will provide advice on the supported technology and transfer ideas and support the implementation of these ideas.
The second objective focuses on the selection and implementation of technology and transfer ideas with the aim of improving local production conditions and coverage of the value chains. Through a systematic review as part of innovation and knowledge screening, a catalogue of solutions is developed that serves as a database for the evaluations and to support technology and transfer ideas. On this basis, a criteria catalogue for the selection of technology and transfer ideas is created jointly by HSWT and GIAE experts on the ground with the support of other partners, such as partner universities and practice partners. Support with the implementation of the selected technology and transfer ideas is the main activity that will facilitate the achievement of the second objective and involves specialised, financial, organisational and technical approaches, which are taught and developed jointly by HSWT and the partner universities in workshops and training sessions. For performance measurement and follow-up support, all technology and transfer ideas are monitored with regard to the allocation of resources and achievement of objectives.
The third objective focuses on the expansion of application-oriented teaching and trilateral cooperation. This includes the introduction of the International Master’s degree programme in Agriculture Management in other African countries in cooperation with longstanding partners from the IMA network. In order to expand the implementation scope of TAP, knowledge relating to the establishment and anchoring of application-oriented teaching is also to be made available to other partner universities.