WCHR Home WCHR 1 WCHR 2 WCHR 3 WCHR 4 WCHR 5 Search
HenE STUDY INVOLVING KENYA.
Henry Wainwright
University College Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3RR, UK
Geoffrey Tunya
Egerton University, P.O. Box 536, Njoro, Kenya.
The Department for International Development (DFID) of the United
Kingdom Government, through a grant, enables, with the free services
of the British Council and Higher Education Institutes (HEIs)
such as Universities and Colleges, the operation of the Fund for
International Co-operation in Higher Education (FICHE). The FICHE
allows HEIs in some of the poorest countries to collaborate with
HEIs in the UK. In turn this collaboration can attract other external
funding for research, consulting and advisory services. The horticultural
departments at University College Writtle in the UK and Egerton
University in Kenya have successfully collaborated in a range
of activities including research and curriculum development which
has been funded initially through the FICHE scheme. The requirements
and benefits of this scheme to both collaborators are reviewed
as an example of the value possible, through international collaboration
programmes.
The ability of organisations to undertake horticultural research
in developing countries is constrained by many factors. These
constraints can include lack of personnel who have training in
the most appropriate e lack of personnel who have training in
the most appropriate techniques and approaches suitable for research
in developing countries. Additionally limited resources, lack
of awareness of the opportunities for obtaining funding and difficulty
in communications and collaboration with other members of the
scientific community outside their institute can limit research.
Numerous developed countries and Non-Governmental Organisations
offer a system of scholarship programmes for training in research,
however demand outstrips supply. In the past this training has
not always been focused on the student's and their country's needs.
In addition, when the student returns home, though they can be
bonded to their institute for some time, trained personnel are
often in demand in the private sector of the economy which results
in a high loss of the staff from research institutes and the higher
education system.
Horticultural research is often not the highest spending priority
for a country in the third world, ironically though some of the
greatest needs are for research into tropical crops which are
commonly grown in developing countries. Therefore adequate resources,
often of the basic type such as transport and minor equipment
are lacking. Communications and the ability to find out information
is key to the researcher. However many developing country institutes
lack funds to purchase current journals, gain axis to the internet
and interact with the scientio the internet
and interact with the scientific community, which results in less
effective research.
The need to undertake horticultural research to support the industries
involved with horticultural crop production and post-harvest management
has never been so great. Though not involved in production of
staple crops, the value of a horticultural crops to a developing
countries economy are considerable. Horticultural crops provide
variety in the diet including a valuable contribution to minerals
and vitamins, and a means of income generation from local sales.
In addition horticultural crops allow the diversification of developing
country economies away from the narrow agricultural base. This
diversification has been into both crops for local as well as
export sales. The value of horticultural crop exports includes
increasing foreign exchange earnings, generating employment often
in rural locations and reducing migration from the countryside
(Wainwright, 1994). The value of horticultural export diversification
has been recognised in Kenya (Stevens, 1990; Wainwright, 1994)
and in Zimbabwe (Riddell, 1990). However to sustain the development
of horticultural production in developing countries, there is
a need for the provision of training and research, to technically
support and problem solve for the benefit of the horticultural
industry.
The UKD HIGHER EDUCATION LINK (HEL) SCHEME
The UK government has long recognised the value of academic collaboration
and in 1980 established the Higher Education Link (HEL) Scheme.
This scheme promotes academic collaboration between higher education
and research institutes in Britain and similar organisations overseas
in the developing world. The main objective of the scheme is to
enhance the quality of life of people in poorer countries by contributing
to sustainable development, and reducing poverty and suffering
by strengthening Higher Education Institutes (HEI). This is achieved
through improving the capacity of the HEIs, so that they contribute
to development through the application of knowledge and skills.
The scheme currently operates in forty four countries around the
world (British Council, 1997).
The Committee for International Co-operation in Higher Education
(CICHE) gives broad advice on the implementation of the HELs and
how the British Council spends the grant from the Fund for International
Co-operation in Higher Education (FICHE) which it receives from
the British Government's Department for International Development
(DFID)(formerly the Overseas Development Administration). The
CICHE defines a link as "a form of co-operation in teaching
and research, with defined objectives and extending over a period
of years, between a department or comparable unit of an overseas
institution of higher education and one or more itution of higher education and one or more in Britain."
The HELs provide the funds to allow exchange visits providing
travel and subsistence costs, and in the case of Sub-Saharan African
countries, small amounts to fund books and minor equipment. The
purpose is not to fund the direct research costs but to facilitate
the process by, for instance, preparing research bids, allow staff
development, share information, assist in technology transfer
and strengthen the ability of the collaborating institute to both
train researchers and undertake research itself.
The HELs are recognised as being good value for money. In the
annual report of the Fund for International Co-operation in Higher
Education of 1996/97 (British Council, 1997a) the Hough Report
concluded that "the FICHE grant is very cost-effective and
gives good value for money, not least because of the large built-in
multipler effects with UK universities contributing substantially
in terms of academic staff time and other inputs. Other donors
also made significant inputs".
The HELs are not solely based on agriculture and horticulture,
but cover a wide range of disciplines such as education, health
and medicine, food technology, environmental studies, energy management
and architecture. As well as subject focused projects, a small
fund is earmarked for regional development in Gender and Development
(British Council, 1997b). The activities can focus itish Council, 1997b). The activities can focus on the improvement
of the status of women in higher education. However all HELs have
to consider their impact on women in the development process.
To illustrate the value that HELs have been in promoting research
and technology transfer for horticulture the following Kenyan
case study is provided.
Egerton University was originally an agricultural college established
in 1939 by Lord Egerton donating land to the Kenyan Department
of Agriculture. Early students were British ex-service men returning
from World War II. When Lord Egerton died in 1958 he left a further
1,125 hectares and for the first time in 1960 non-European students
were admitted. In 1986 Egerton College was granted University
College status and in the following year was granted full University
status. Today there are over 5,000 students studying a range of
subjects including arts, education and the sciences. The horticultural
department has 27 members of staff and offers diplomas, BSc and
for the first time this year, will be offering an MSc in Horticulture.
University College Writtle was established in 1893 as the then
Essex Institute and provided land based education and training
across a wide range of levels. Today in partnership with Essex
University, BSc, MSc and PhD degrees are offered in A
University, BSc, MSc and PhD degrees are offered in Agriculture,
Leisure Management, Equine Studies, Business Management, Agricultural
Engineering and of course Horticultural subjects including Crop
Production, and Amenity and Land Management. A recent innovation
has been the development of an Anglo-Dutch MSc in International
Horticulture taught jointly with the Den Bosch University of Applied
Agriculture in The Netherlands. There are currently 1,900 full
time equivalent students studying at University College Writtle.
In 1995, a three year (1995-98) HEL was approved between the horticultural
departments of Egerton University and University College Writtle.
The objects of the link were to develop curriculum and facilitate
research collaboration within horticultural crop production and
post-harvest handling. As part of the links activities, a total
of seventeen staff exchanges were organised between Kenya and
the UK over a three year period. Also a small allowance was provided
for Egerton University to purchase essential and recently published
books as well as a computer, software and other minor equipment.
Key benefits of the link so far have been:
In addition to the HEL funded activities, the coUL>
In addition to the HEL funded activities, the collaboration has
resulted in
The HEL was considered to be successful and following an applications
for the renewal, the HEL between the Horticultural Departments
at Egerton University and University College Writtle have been
extended for a further three years (1998-2001).
The Higher Education Link scheme funded by the British Government
through the Fund for International Co-operation in Higher Education
has the opportunity to promote and facilitate the horticultural
research in the developing country Higher Education Institutes.
Egerton University - University College Writtle link is an example
of a British Government funded link which has yielded valuable
and measurable research and training benefits to both partners.
Those horticultural higher education institutes in developing
countries which are interested in institutes in developing
countries which are interested in further information, are welcome
to contact the authors or the British Council directly at the
following address: Higher Education Links, The British Council,
Bridgewater House, 58 Whitworth Street, Manchester, M1 6BB, UK.
The authors would like to thank the British Government and British
Council for their funding and support of the Higher Education
Link between our institutes.
British Council (1997). Higher Education Links Scheme. The British
Council, Manchester. pp 8.
British Council (1997a). Fund for International Co-operation in
Higher Education Annual Report 1996/97. The British Council, Manchester.
pp 16.
British Council (1997b). Gender and Development. The British Council,
Manchester. pp 12.
Nyalala, S.O. and Wainwright, H. (1998). Effect of cultivar characteristics
on the shelf life of tomato under different storage temperatures.
Tropical Science, (In Press).
Nyanjage, M.O., Wainwright, H. and Bishop, C.F.H. (1998). The
effects of hot water treatments in combination with cooling and
or storage on the physiology and disease of mango fruits (Mangifera
indica L). Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology,
73, (In Press).
Riddell, R.C. (1990). ACP export diversification: the case for
Zimbabwe. Overseas Develop (1990). ACP export diversification: the case for
Zimbabwe. Overseas Development Institute Working paper No 38,
London.
Stevens, C. (1990). ACP export diversification: Jamaica, Kenya
and Ethiopia. Overseas Development Institute Working paper No
40, London.
Wainwright, H. (1994). Export diversification through Horticulture:
Kenya - a case study. Outlook on Agriculture, 23, 41-45.