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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Social Movements, Institutions and Governance
Volume 8 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1348167

Perspectives on the integration of agri-entrepreneurship in tertiary agricultural education in Africa: Insights from the AgriENGAGE project

Provisionally accepted
Ngonidzashe Chirinda Ngonidzashe Chirinda 1*Bisan ABDULKADER Bisan ABDULKADER 1Carsten N. Hjortsø Carsten N. Hjortsø 2Kenza Aitelkadi Kenza Aitelkadi 3Salako Kolawole Valere Salako Kolawole Valere 4Noamane Taarji Noamane Taarji 1Manal Mhada Manal Mhada 1Zidane Lamdaghri Zidane Lamdaghri 3Gergana Romanova Gergana Romanova 2Achille Assogbadjo Achille Assogbadjo 4Flora J. Chadare Flora J. Chadare 5Mwanarusi Saidi Mwanarusi Saidi 6Maria Sassi Maria Sassi 7Basil Mugonola Basil Mugonola 8Elisha O. Gogo Elisha O. Gogo 9Joseph Ssekandi Joseph Ssekandi 10Emmanuel Okalany Emmanuel Okalany 11Anthony Egeru Anthony Egeru 11Patience M. Mshenga Patience M. Mshenga 6Tarik Chfadi Tarik Chfadi 1
  • 1 Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Ben Guerir, Morocco
  • 2 University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark
  • 3 Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco
  • 4 Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin
  • 5 Université Nationale d’Agriculture, Laboratoire des Sciences et Technologies des Aliments et Bioressources et de Nutrition Humaine, Sakété, Benin
  • 6 Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya
  • 7 University of Pavia, Pavia, Lombardy, Italy
  • 8 Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Gulu University, Gulu City, Uganda
  • 9 Pwani University, Kilifi, Kilifi, Kenya
  • 10 Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi, Uganda
  • 11 Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture, Kampala, Uganda

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The underperformance of agricultural education systems in Africa is evident through various indicators such as increased unemployment among recent agricultural graduates, inefficiencies in agricultural product value chains, and a decline in enrollment in agricultural schools. The AgriENGAGE project, which included eight African universities, was supported through the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education programme funded by the European Commission to address these challenges. The project aimed to contribute towards revitalizing agricultural education systems to stimulate agricultural transformation and enhance the sector's competitiveness while meeting the labour market's demands. This article draws on lessons learned at eight universities to provide a perspective on agri-entrepreneurship education integration in African universities. We provide descriptions, experiences, and insights on agri-entrepreneurship education integration in partner universities in Kenya, Benin, Morocco, and Uganda. Based on these experiences, we provide perspectives on reducing youth unemployment and improving the effectiveness of agricultural education in contributing to the development of sustainable food systems.

    Keywords: Agricultural Education, enterpreneureship, sustainability, agricultural productivity and innovation, Africa, higher education

    Received: 01 Dec 2023; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chirinda, ABDULKADER, Hjortsø, Aitelkadi, Kolawole Valere, Taarji, Mhada, Lamdaghri, Romanova, Assogbadjo, Chadare, Saidi, Sassi, Mugonola, Gogo, Ssekandi, Okalany, Egeru, Mshenga and Chfadi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ngonidzashe Chirinda, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Ben Guerir, Morocco

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.