AgrGROW Project aims to contribute in diversifying skills of graduates in Malawi and Uganda
The project Climate-Smart agropreneurship Education for Livelihood and Sustainability in Eastern and Southern Africa (AgrGROW) was officially launched in a weeklong meeting of project partners from 21st-25th August 2023 on the premises of Häme University of Applied Sciences, Visamäki campus, in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The event was organised and hosted by HAMK in Africa which operates under the HAMK Bio Research Unit.
In the opening ceremony project partner institutions Bugema University, Makerere University, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Malawi University of Science and Technology, University of Copenhagen and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) were represented onsite as well as online.
The event ensured partners meet face to face to “break the ice” and participate in activities relevant to create a shared understanding of project objectives over the next 3 years.
In the opening remarks, Dr. Annukka Pakarinen, Director of HAMK Bio Department expressed her departments willingness to support the project implementation and success and wished partners best of luck as collaborative work kick starts.
The focus of the project will be on developing Innovative competence-based curricula, student-centred learning methods and collaboration with private sector entities that is envisaged to allow graduates to become agropreneurs, problem-solvers and solution-creators and the partner Universities will become catalysts of economic and social development in their countries.
“Key areas in Finland Strategy are academic cooperation and therefore HAMK is delivering on the Finland Africa strategy and the project is very important for the Häme region” Ms. Krista Taipale, Project Director Häme Goes Global said.
The objectives of the project are:
- to reform curricula to be work-life responsive, to up-grade pedagogical teacher competencies.
- to close the gap between universities and the world of work.
- to integrate innovative climate-smart agro-entrepreneurship (CSA) into curricula.
The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme with a budget of 890,310 euros with a planned duration of 36 month (1st April 2023 – 31st March 2026).
Do you want to find out more about the Kick-off? Read full story from the University World News Newsletter, Africa edition.