Training Pact with Africa (Newsletter: 01 – June 2020)
General Issues:
- Expansion of Cooperation with Universities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda: During the visit of Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (HSWT) delegations to Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, the university and its African partner universities worked hard to bring the new formed cooperation forward. The overall objective behind the cooperation is to implement a more practice-oriented higher education at the African partner universities, based on the model of German universities of applied sciences. The cooperation is part of the "Training Pact with Africa", on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the HSWT, to promote the education and further training of African students. In November 2019, the Ethiopian universities Arsi University and Bahir Dar University as well as the Kenyan universities Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) and Maseno University already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the International Future Day at the HSWT in Weihenstephan.
- Hawassa University joined the Network: In February 2020, the Hawassa University, represented by Dr. Fisiha Getachew, Vice President for Academic Affairs, also signed a MoU with HSWT and emphasized the importance of working on common areas of interest and establishing long-term cooperation between the two universities through staff exchange and jointly developed training units. The practice-oriented education offered by HSWT is a model for HU for how curricula could be changed in the future. IMA An Intercontinental Network for the Master Study Course "International Agricultural Management" (IMA) HSWT has been offering the course for 20 years in cooperation with mainly Eastern European partner universities. The network will be extended to the African continent within the framework of the "Training Program with Africa". The existing program has the objective to qualify German and foreign specialists and executive staff in an application-oriented way in order to support the advancement of high-performing and sustainable agricultural production systems and the development of rural areas.
IMA
- An Intercontinental Network for the Master Study Course "International Agricultural Management" (IMA): HSWT has been offering the course for 20 years in cooperation with mainly Eastern European partner universities. The network will be extended to the African continent within the framework of the "Training Pact with Africa". The existing program has the objective to qualify German and foreign specialists and executive staff in an application-oriented way in order to support the advancement of high-performing and sustainable agricultural production systems and the development of rural areas.
Study the IMA - Masterprogram at HSWT
- Before the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic in Germany, the plan of the team at HSWT was to invite up to 10 students from our partner universities in Ethiopia and Kenya for the Master's program in the international agricultural management course to Triesdorf. Therefore, Dr. Bernd Müller – who works as a researcher at HSWT in the coordination of the project "Training Pact with Africa" – and Franziska Rupp, who is responsible for the supervision of interns in the course "International Master of Agricultural Management" at HSWT, visited the Arsi University and the University Bahir Dar to do selection interviews with bachelor graduates of both universities who are aiming for a master's degree in cooperation with HSWT. The prerequisite for the Ethiopian students is – beside excellent grades – a successfully passed exam in a B1 level German language test. Due to the COVID 19 crisis a transfer to HSWT is postponed to April 2021.
- Transfer of the IMA Masterprogram to the Partner Universities: At the beginning of this year, Prof. Dr. Ralf Schlauderer, together with Dr. Kateryna Tuzhyk, responsible for communication and organisation of courses with African universities, visited two new partner universities in Kenya and Uganda: JOOUST University, Bondo, as well as at the Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) in Fort Portal, Uganda.
- IMA – Information Platform is Now Online: Last week the IMA team at HSWT opened our newly created information platform on Moodle to the first interested colleagues from our partner universities. If you are also interested to use all available teaching materials, please contact Dr. Aram Aristakesyan for further information.
- Postgraduate Course: The project is related to the activities of the Green Innovation Centres in the Agri-food Sector (GIAE) in selected African countries. The core of the project is the development of human resources within the framework of a five-months training course, the contents of which focus on the creation and operation of value chains in the agricultural and food sector. For this purpose, 25 particularly qualified Master's graduates were again selected in 2020. Thus, 12 women and 13 men from 11 African countries will participate in the 2020 course. The group of selected course participants is, as in previous year’s, very diverse: Farmers, entrepreneurs, university lecturers, researchers, consultants and ministry staff are represented. Due to the COVID 19 situation, starting from 3rd of May 2020, the course is organized via online teaching methods. HSWT is looking forward to welcoming the students in Triesdorf after the travel restrictions are repealed.
- Information of Partner Universities: JOOUST/Kenia and MMU/Uganda plan to start IMA already in September/August 2020.
