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TAGDEV 2.0 is a collaborative between RUFORUM, Mastercard Foundation, the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and life Sciences (GCHERA) and 12 African universities namely Egerton University (Kenya), Gulu University (Uganda), Africa University (Zimbabwe), University of Cape Coast (Ghana), Universite Nationale d’Agriculture (Benin), University of Bamenda (Cameroon), University of Free State (South Africa), Universite Mohammed VI, Polytechnique (Morocco), Uganda Martyrs University (Uganda), University of Eldoret (Kenya), University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (Malawi).

The main goal is to strengthen universities and TVET institutions to better serve communities by skilling and empowering Africa’s young people and their institutions to drive inclusive, equitable and climate resilient transformative agriculture and agrifood systems. This goal will contribute to three strategic outcomes:

1. Expanded equal work opportunities for young women and men in the Agricultural sector;

2. Improved climate adaptive agricultural production and productivity and;3. Strengthened quality of higher agricultural education outcomes in training, research and innovation.

These outcomes address barriers that influence how agricultural education can impact the broader agriculture ecosystem growth and functions including among others; the traditional educational models at universities and TVETs that inadequately equip young people with requisite knowledge and skills, policies, systems and practices in universities and TVETs constraining institutional transformation, limited university and TVET capacity for entrepreneurship education and commercialization of innovation; and weak collaboration between education ecosystems actors.

In delivery of the program at Egerton University 130 students (70- being undergraduate and 60 being Masters) will be supported through the scholarship programme; facilitate the review of curriculum and institutional policies to enhance effective delivery of transformative education; enhance job creation for 15,000 young women and men targeting TVETs ,out of school youth , university graduates who are not employed, persons with disability, refugees and internally displaced persons among others in agricultural value chains; 68,500 smallholder farmers reached on climate adaptive Technological Innovations and Management Practices (TIMPS), and value chain actors. The program also seeks to support establishment of 75, start-ups, 950,000 trees planted, at least 6 farmers’ cooperative strengthened, 15 TIMPS co-created and adapted

Agriculture is a knowledge based economic activity that requires knowledge products and adoption by all stakeholders especially learners to grow. Under TAGDev 2.0 there will be three types of learners, i.e.,

1)      Educated entrepreneurs

2)      Out of schools and entrepreneurial youth

3)      Empowered and resilient value chain actors especially farmers, who can access science solutions to climate proof production.

TAGDev 2.0 will support transformational agricultural and entrepreneurial education, vibrant Agri-input and output market systems to produce the three categories of learners. The program scales out agenda encompasses action that:

1)      Scale the transformative agricultural education and development model

This includes adaptive teaching and learning experiential entrepreneurship, soft skills training, as well as research and innovation activities to meet community and university transformation needs and enhance relevance and work transitions of young people.

2)      Scale job creation

Through multi-partnerships focusing on post-harvest food handling and processing, value addition ang agri-preneurship involving young women and men (out of school youth, TVETs and, bachelor’s degree graduates)

3)      Expand the zone of influence

The TAGDev 2.0 program has adopted the consortium approach. Egerton University will work with 3 universities in Kenya namely Karatina University, Pwani University and University of Embu and 2 TVETs namely Nyandarua National Polytechnic and Baraka agricultutal College, to deliver the agrifood systems and entrepreneurship activities aimed at skilling the youth and smallholder farmers and job creation