The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does agroforestry fit in? - World ...

136World Agroforestry into the FutureAfrican Network for Agroforestry Education(ANAFE) was established by African collegesand universities teaching agricultureand natural resource sciences, and in 1999Southeast Asian colleges and institutionsfollowed suit by establishing the SoutheastAsian Network for Agroforestry Education(SEANAFE; Temu 2003). At that time, theseinstitutions were not offering courses orprogrammes in agroforestry, and agroforestrywas not part of the curriculum. However,they realized that agroforestry has a criticalrole to play in agriculture and natural resourcemanagement (NRM), and their leaders– including vice-chancellors, deans offaculties and chairpersons of departments– decided to revise curricula to include it.ANAFE and SEANAFE’s objectives includestrengthening agroforestry and NRM educationat African and Southeast Asian universitiesand colleges; linking education withresearch and extension; improving availabilityand access to multidisciplinary land-useeducation; creating awareness among policymakers of the role of agroforestry and NRM;enhancing the availability and quality ofteaching, which includes human resources,teaching material and facilities; and linkinginstitutional teaching and land-use educationthrough networking. These organizationstarget higher educational institutionsincluding universities, colleges and researchinstitutions as well as secondary and primaryschools, local farmers and farmingcommunities, and policy makers.Since their foundation, ANAFE and SEAN-AFE have become increasingly effectiveas agents for advancing integrated naturalresource management (INRM) educationin Africa and Southeast Asia, and are alsostrategic vehicles for sharing agroforestryand NRM knowledge. As one of its firsttasks, ANAFE undertook a study of thecurrent educational technologies offered byits members and came up with a strategyto improve teaching and learning, includingapplication of modern informationand communication technologies (ICTs).As a result, both ANAFE and SEANAFEhave strengthened training of trainers,development of teaching materials andtraining facilities. Now, the academicweight of agroforestry ranges from merelyfeaturing as a topic in a course to being afull programme at diploma, undergraduateand postgraduate levels. The sheernumber of workshops and meetings heldon the subject have led to policy issues onagroforestry being implemented in manyinstitutions. All universities offering postgraduateprogrammes in agroforestry arebeing monitored, and the networks assist inprogramme and content design to ensurequality capacity building.Why educate in agroforestry?Agricultural production in some areas ofAfrica and Asia is in decline, leading tofood insecurity, increased poverty, malnutritionand poor health. The Green Revolutionemphasized monocropping and reliedon the use of machinery and syntheticchemicals; completely neglecting the conceptof smallholder farming. In many partsof the world, this led to natural resourcesbeing destroyed and land degraded, resultingin environmental problems anda decrease, rather than the intended increase,in crop yields and other agriculturalactivities. Soil fertility still declines inmany countries therefore agroforestry isan important tool for rural farmers to usein successful agricultural production andland conservation. Prior to the formationof ANAFE and SEANAFE, it was clear thatfarmers were not maximizing the opportunitiesfor agroforestry. INRM is criticalfor successful agricultural production. Furthermore,agroforestry products need to bemarketed, and hence product processingand adding value are also critical steps inthe process. It was therefore essential to includeagroforestry education at certificate,diploma, undergraduate, masters and Ph.D.levels, and for farmers, extension/developmentworkers and policy makers to beaware of it.AchievementsBoth ANAFE and SEANAFE are active inagroforestry capacity building in Africanand Southeast Asian educational institutions,and in raising awareness among policymakers, extension staff and farmers, andat community levels. The number of institutionsteaching agroforestry at various levelsis increasing. Currently 123 universitiesand colleges in 35 countries under ANAFE,and 76 institutions in five countries underSEANAFE are offering agroforestry courses(ICRAF 2003). ANAFE and SEANAFE havehad many notable achievements, includingtraining of trainers on how to develop extensionmaterials, curricula development,preparation of agroforestry teaching materialsfor universities and colleges, establishmentof demonstration plots at teachinginstitutions and on farms, agroforestrytheses at the B.Sc. and postgraduate levels,and provision to the institutions of agroforestrypublications. ANAFE and SEANAFEhave both produced newsletters to shareinformation on agroforestry education andnetworking.Training of trainersVarious training-of-trainer courses andworkshops have been conducted byANAFE and SEANAFE in different countriesand institutions, resulting in about 300