Universities, with their functions of educating students and generating and disseminating knowledge, are central to productive AKISs. The number of agricultural faculties has grown rapidly, and because about half of the agricultural scientists in developing countries work in universities, they have considerable potential to carry out research. University faculties devote about 25 percent of their time to research, and the balance to teaching programs, supervising postgraduate students, and consulting. Agricultural universities and faculties of agriculture in universities face multiple challenges: providing relevant and high quality training for future agricultural scientists, mobilizing funding for research, disseminating research findings, and recruiting, promoting, and retaining gifted teachers and researchers. Agricultural universities and faculties of agriculture in developing countries are central to building a comprehensive AKIS. They train future research staff and have the potential to use existing staff and facilities, such as libraries, laboratories, and demonstration farms, to carry out research at marginal additional cost. Many universities also provide consulting services to various public, private, and nongovernmental organizations. Degree training is the primary function of agricultural universities. From the early 1960s to the mid-1980s, agricultural universities helped to quadruple the number of developing country agricultural researchers, yet results from the early phase of donor investment in university research have been mixed. Some agricultural universities actively participate in AKIS and generate high-quality research, but others have seen their research capacity erode. Although many universities have expanded training capacities, they have been unsuccessful in achieving fiscal sustainability and establishing sound research programs. This situation is changing as CRGPs have increased university participation in agricultural research of national importance in a number of countries, including Ecuador, Brazil, and Chile. International donors have invested heavily in universities and faculties of agriculture. From 1964 to 1990, World Bank-financed projects provided US$713 million for 41 projects supporting universities (both agricultural and general) in 25 countries. From the 1950s to 1996, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided US$456 million for 63 agricultural universities in 40 countries. In the 1990s, donor support to universities declined sharply, but there has been a renewed interest in the important symbiotic relationships between investments in agricultural higher education, research, and extension. Three recent examples illustrate the “new directions” in donor strategies for supporting higher (tertiary) education:   
|
RSS