By Bisola Adeyemo
Agricultural experts in some African countries have gathered in Malawi to share ideas on how to improve engineering skills for agriculture sustainability.
The conference was organized through the Higher Education Partnerships in Sub-Sahara Africa (HEPSSA) Project, which the UK Government is financing through the Royal Academy of Engineering.
HEPSSA Project is a network of engineering faculties and schools in some Eastern and Southern African universities linked to a UK university with the aim of enhancing quality of engineering education and training.
In an interview with Nyasa Times, LUANAR Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Dr. Vincent Mgoli Mwase, said the project is aimed to enhance the quality of engineering education and training through academic staff secondment to industry.
“So, the workshop that is taking place here is basically to strengthen the partnership between the academia and the industry partners.
“The whole idea is that we want to ensure that whatever we do in the academia should trickle down to the industry and, at the same time, whatever happens in the industry should also be part of what we are doing in the academia,” said Mwale.
Mwale disclosed that majority of the graduates lacked practical expertise when they join the industry.
In his remarks, HEPSSA Project principal investigator and Head of Engineering Department, Dr. Grivin Mvula, said the conference drafted experts from different locations together to brainstorm on how they can contribute towards the socioeconomic development of their respective countries through enhanced engineering skills.
Experts from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom (UK), among others were also present at the Conference.
