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Education Driving Agriculture-Led Economic and Social Transformation in Africa

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Education and Development

Abstract

Sustainable economic development in Africa will require transformation in the agricultural sector. Under the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) processes and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, political support for African agricultural development, and the role therein of science, technology, and innovation, has reached an apex. However, transformation at the country level is weakened by critical human capacity shortages. International evidence confirms the fundamental role of agricultural education and training (AET) in agricultural development, and there is a wealth of evidence supporting the role of higher education for accelerated development and transformation in Africa. Yet, AET has been much neglected in agricultural strategies and action plans in many countries. Building on international examples, the chapter outlines a roadmap toward an ideal AET system in Africa.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In this chapter, AIS, R&D, and STI are used interchangeably to mean, more or less, the same idea of driving scientific and institutional inventions to commercial and social success.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Frans Swanepoel & Melody Mentz-Coetzee

  2. National Research Foundation, Pretoria, South Africa

    Aldo Stroebel

Authors
  1. Frans Swanepoel
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  2. Aldo Stroebel
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  3. Melody Mentz-Coetzee
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Correspondence to Frans Swanepoel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cornell Law School, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Muna B. Ndulo

  2. Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    N'Dri T. Assié-Lumumba

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Swanepoel, F., Stroebel, A., Mentz-Coetzee, M. (2020). Education Driving Agriculture-Led Economic and Social Transformation in Africa. In: Ndulo, M., Assié-Lumumba, N. (eds) Education and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40566-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40566-3_5

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