Publication of the week

Mainstreaming Climate Change into Agricultural Education: Challenges and Perspectives

Climate change is adversely affecting practically all economic sectors. Africa is projected to have a future associated with scarce water, declining agricultural yields, encroaching desert and damaged coastal infrastructure. With graduating students from tertiary agriculture and natural resource management institutions expected to provide solutions to development challenges, it is unfortunate that climate change has not been integrated into the curricula to any meaningful extent. Consequently graduating students are ill-equipped to advise meaningfully on the challenges posed by climate change.

This working paper is an outcome of a symposium organized to share information on climate change challenges for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa; explore methods of mainstreaming climate change knowledge into agricultural education; and identify recommendations on effective policies, institutions and capacity. The brief lays down the key issues in climate change: who is affected and what direction we are taking if the negative effects presented by climate change are not checked. It presents a compelling argument on the role of tertiary education in making meaningful contributions and goes further to present an action plan to ensure that climate change is integrated into the curricula of tertiary agriculture and natural resource management institutions including the key components of such a curricula.

Chakeredza, S.; Temu, A.B.; Yaye, A.; Mukingwa, S.; Saka, J.D.K. World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Lilongwe (Malawi). SADC-ICRAF Agroforestry Project. 2009. Mainstreaming climate change into agricultural education: challenges and perspectives. Nairobi, Kenya: World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) ICRAF Working Paper no. 82, 30p. Website