Capacity Development

Objective

To strengthen the capacity of national scientists and practitioners to facilitate sustainable agri-food system transformation.

Description

CIALCA continues to focus on key capacity development in the Great Lakes Region. In view of the huge demands for state-of-the-art ICT-based research methods and tools, and relevant agricultural and food system knowledge to meet the challenges small-scale farmers and their customers face, capacity development operates at various levels and in close collaboration with the NARS and Belgian universities. CIALCA facilitates degree-related training at PhD and MSc level and thereby builds on the successes of the sandwich PhD system organized with Belgian partner universities. CIALCA also facilitates MSc thesis research and training through Belgian and national universities. Action research and continuous monitoring, evaluation, and learning with our partners ensures that we place our research “in” development, and is an important strategy in developing institutional capacity for innovation and scaling.

Expected outcomes

By the end of 2020, at least three PhD and six MSc students are leading/engaged in research and innovation within their respective institutes.

By the end of 2020, the extension agents of at least 12 partner organizations (four per country) are using CIALCA recommendations derived from the decision support framework.