Report on Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE) Sasakawa Africa Association Deola Naibakelao November 2020 Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. 3 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 3 List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Executive summary ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 6 1. Background ........................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Genesis of Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE) ................................................... 7 1.1.1 The rationale for establishing SAFE ............................................................................................ 7 1.1.2 Feasibility study for establishing Zamorano-type of school in Ghana ...................................... 7 1.1.3 Proposal for scholarship scheme ................................................................................................ 7 1.1.4 The role of Winrock International .............................................................................................. 8 2. Shift from scholarship scheme to institutional capacity building .......................................................... 8 2.1 Breakthrough with the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana .................................................... 8 2.2 Active participation of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) of Ghana ........................... 10 3. SAFE: Vision, Mission, Guiding philosophy, Pillars and Curriculum .................................................... 10 3.1 Vision ................................................................................................................................................ 10 3.2 Mission.............................................................................................................................................. 10 3.3 Guiding Philosophy .......................................................................................................................... 10 3.4 Pillars of the SAFE Initiative ............................................................................................................. 11 3.5 Curriculum ........................................................................................................................................ 11 3.5.1. Major Steps in the development, review and revision process ............................................. 11 3.5.2. Components of the SAFE Demand Driven Curriculum ............................................................ 13 3.5.2.1. The Supervised Enterprise Project (SEP) .......................................................................... 13 3.5.2.2. The Enterprise Center (EC) ................................................................................................ 13 3.6 Uniqueness of SAFE program ........................................................................................................... 14 4. Program expansion ................................................................................................................................ 14 4.1 Growing demands for the program ................................................................................................. 14 4.2 Responses to demands .................................................................................................................... 15 5. Program adaptation ............................................................................................................................... 15 This section focused on how the program has been adapted based on the changing environment and emerging demands.......................................................................................................................... 15 1 5.1 Reasons for adaptation .................................................................................................................... 15 5.2 Adaptation patterns ......................................................................................................................... 16 6. Program key achievements .................................................................................................................... 20 6.1 Graduates ......................................................................................................................................... 20 6.2 Development of the extension systems .......................................................................................... 23 6.3 Universities contribute to the agricultural development of rural communities ........................... 23 6.4 Capacity building of lecturers .......................................................................................................... 23 6.5 Scholarships for Extension Agents ................................................................................................... 24 7. Alumni Association ................................................................................................................................. 25 7.1 Rationale and role ............................................................................................................................ 25 7.2 Achievements ................................................................................................................................... 26 7.3 The way forward .............................................................................................................................. 26 8. Challenges of the SAFE program ............................................................................................................ 27 8.1 Policy changes .................................................................................................................................. 27 8.2 Staff turnover ................................................................................................................................... 27 8.3 Inadequate number of female faculty members ............................................................................ 27 8.4 Low level of female intake ............................................................................................................... 28 8.5 Inadequate support from employers .............................................................................................. 28 8.6 Donor’s reluctance to fund Tertiary Education ............................................................................... 29 9. Lessons learned ...................................................................................................................................... 29 9.1 Lessons learned from stakeholders ................................................................................................. 29 9.2 Enrichment of curricula and teaching .............................................................................................. 30 9.3 Reasons for success .......................................................................................................................... 30 10. The way forward .................................................................................................................................. 31 10.1 Action points derived from the recommendations of case studies and EC evaluation ............... 31 10.2 Proactive engagement with stakeholders: research institutes, public/private sectors, development agencies. .......................................................................................................................... 32 10.3 Admission of High School graduates: Implications for SEPs implementation ............................. 32 10.4 Use of various modes of delivery (face-to-face, e-learning, distance mode, summer courses, etc.) ......................................................................................................................................................... 33 10.5 Expanding the scope of intervention (Development of short courses) ....................................... 33 10.6 Funding ........................................................................................................................................... 33 11. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 33 2 List of Tables Table 1. Adaptation patterns at institutions ............................................................................................... 17 Table 2. Students Statistics as of November 2020 ...................................................................................... 20 Table 3. Statistics of graduates per country and training institutions, as of November 2020 ................... 21 Table 4. SAFE Program Institutions, October 1993 – November 2020 ......................................................