NEWS:

8 Sep, 2015


Delegates appreciating a Seed Processing Unit installed by the project
A team from U.S. Government’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID Malawi) who visited Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) to appreciate an Agricultural Innovation Partnership (AIP) project implemented at the institution said they were impressed with the project.

During the visit on Tuesday, USAID’s Office Director for Sustainable Economic Growth, Cullen Hughes said the AIP Malawi project had impressed him with what it has achieved within a short period of time.

Since its launch in 2014 AIP has achieved a number of things. According to Dr Charles Masangano who is part of the project implementing team said through the project seed science curricula was reviewed with contemporary content and improved scope for experiential learning.

He said through the project a number of short courses related to seed value chain to industry such as seed inspection, seed production, processing and marketing; project management, Leadership and Financial Analysis were developed and delivered.

Dr Masangano said through the launch of e-Learning Management Systems (e-LMS) platform such as Online Learning and Training (OLAT), the project widened access to education anytime, anywhere, reinforced and facilitated teaching for big classes while the Cyber library has provided access to e-resources and content.

“Establishment of state of the art media room for capture and digitization of various course contents has seen all courses of year 1 at bachelors level digitized to benefit over 1500 students,” he said.

He said “The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL)” – a digital collection of over 200 research journals related to agricultural science has benefited students.

Dr Masangano said the project also established a seed processing unit and effectively utilized the new facility for processing 35 tonnes of seeds in 2015.

“It has also piloted a seed village model at LUANAR for producing high quality legume seeds (Cowpea and Beans) and also provide technical support to farmers under this program through various training initiatives,” he said.

The AIP–Malawi project, a trilateral partnership between LUANAR, Cornell University in USA and Sathguru Management Consultants of India project is supported by USAID, under the ‘Feed the Future’ initiative. The project primarily focuses on improving seed science and technology curriculum, introducing e-learning tools, establishing a seed processing facility, and developing seed enterprises.

Written By: Patricia Nkhoma Ngwale