Word-Import - 1

The African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education is a network of 136 educational institutions in 35 African countries whose objective is to strengthen the teaching of multi-disciplinary approaches to land management. For that purpose, ANAFE works closely with Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resource Management training institutions in Africa.

Various symposia have been held to review status of forestry education in SSA. In 2002, FAO launched regional surveys to identify trends in forestry education and 

training in SEA and SSA over the previous 10 years in collaboration with two regional education networks, SEANAFE and ANAFE.

This study was conducted to establish the trends in student graduation rates and expecting for good educational delivery.

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Questionnaire return rate

Of the 20 questionnaires sent, only 6 were returned, which represents a relatively low return rate of 30%. Data from University of Nairobi was not included in the analysis since they are not yet offering any forestry programme. Institutional trends and comparisons were carried out on the remaining five institutions.

Institutional establishment

The year of establishment of the forestry programmes varied by more than 50 years between the earliest established to the most recent.

Nyabyeya Forestry University, established in 1948, is a pioneer in the subject, followed by Makerere University established in 1970, Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources in 1977, Kordofan in 1994, Mzuzu University in 2001 and Kabianga University College established in 2005.

Programmes offered and training duration

The institutions use a common nomenclature for the different programmes. Levels of study offered are: Certificate, Diploma, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and PhD.

For certificate and Diploma level quantifications, Nyabyeya Forestry College is the only one of the respondents offering these two programmes. Both the certificate and diploma programmes are for 2 years study duration.

For B.Sc. programme, the duration of study varies by institution, being 3 years at Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources; 4 years at Makerere, Mzuzu and Kabianga Universities and 5 years for the Faculty of Natural Resources and environmental Studies of University of Kordofan. Other institutions do not have B.Sc. programme.

For M.Sc., the duration of the study is currently the same for Wondo Genet College and University of Kordofan. Other institutions do not offer M.Sc. level studies.

For all the respondents, only University of Kordofan offers a Ph.D. programme.

Wondo Genet College offers a number of choices in B.Sc. and M.Sc. programs.

Table 1: Summary of programmes offered at the various institutions

Some programs have been reviewed. Table 2 shows the years at which the programmes have been reviewed:

Table 2: Year of programmes reviews by institution

At Wondo Genet College, curriculum harmonization and modularization was conducted in 2010. It should be notes that although reviews at Wondo Genet, University of Kordofan and Makerere University have recently been reviewed, at Nyabyeya, these have gone for over ten years without review.

The institutions listed the following as their priorities:

Capacity to building to Ph.D. level and more postgraduate training to create a critical mass of experts;

Staff capacity development and practical education facilities;

Library and teaching materials;

Modern laboratory equipment needed to further Agroforestry research;

Communication facilities to create a working and speedy internet facilities;

Support of exchange programmes;

Financial support.

Table 3 lists the areas by which the graduates are employed.

Table 3: Areas in which the graduates are employed

The main employment opportunities of graduates in forestry are mainly public sector. NGOs also provide employment to graduates in all countries surveyed while the private sector is hiring some forestry graduates. The major type of work of graduates is an education extension, research and development. A few have managed to establish enterprises.

Staffing

In terms of number of staff within the institutions, the study distinguished academic staff from administrative personnel. Figure 1 shows the staff numbers:

The institutions can be runked by number of staff as: Wondo Genet College , Makerere University (40 teachers), Nyabyeya Forestry College (26 teachers), the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies of Kordofan (13 teachers), Mzuzu University of Malawi (10 teachers) and Kabianga University College 7 teachers.

Between 2008 and 2010, overally the qualifications of the staff are as show in Figure 2 the majority had Masters level qualifications. The data segregated by gender is show in Figure 3.

At all levels, in five institutions surveyed, there are more qualified men than women on the staff. On average, women make 14% of the staff complement.

Wondo Genet College is at the head of the best institution with qualified teachers. It has a total of 18 Ph.D. holders, 41 master degree and 23 B.Sc. Makerere University has 21 Ph.D. holders, 18 masters and 3 B.Sc. University of Kordofan has 8 Ph.D and 5 M.Sc. holders. Kabianga University College has 1 Ph.D. a masters and 1 B.Sc.

Figure 4 show that there are more Ph.D. holders at Makerere University and at University of Kordofan than other institutions surveyed.

Student enrollments

Forestry enrollments varied by institution and level of study.

In terms of overall enrollments, B.Sc. students are the highest , followed by the certificate (10%) and diploma (6%).

Table 4: Student enrollment number from 2008 to 2010

Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources has the highest number of enrollments in forestry over the past three years. Indeed, it had a student population of 3401 for all Forestry programmes, which represents 74% of total enrollments. The enrollment in Forestry at Wondo Genet College is rising every year, from 731 in 2008 to 1411 in 2010 which is almost a 100% increase in student numbers over 3 years. The increase is largely coming from enrollments at B.Sc. level table.

Nyabyeya Forestry College, the only institution among these surveyed which offers training certificate and diplomas levels, had a total enrollment of 714 over the three year. However, enrollment decreased by 7% in 2009 compared to 2008.

Makerere University and Mzuzu University recorded respectively 222 and 119 student numbers at B.Sc. level between 2008 and 2010. It seems that normal enrollment in Mzuzu University is 40 students per year however in 2009 there was special consideration to upgrade staff from government officers with diplomas to upgrade degrees. The largest number in 2010 at Mzuzu University was a result of two cohorts coalescing due to strike action by students.

The number of students enrolled at B.Sc. at the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies and Kabianga University College, remained constant from 2008 to 2010 with an annual average of 25 students per year at Kordofan and 22 at Kabianga.

Graduation rates

In this part we are interested in number of Forestry graduates in the last three years by institution.

Table 5: Number of forestry graduates from 2008 to 2010

There was a total of 3455 graduates from 2008 to 2010 in the surveyed institutions. Among the institutions surveyed it is noticeable that:

Wondo Genet College, Mzuzu University and Makerere University do not issue the certificate and the diploma level qualifications. 75% of graduates are from Wondo Genet College;

University of Kordofan has graduates at all levels  except for the diploma level quqlification;

Makerere University and University of Kordofan are the only ones which offer Ph.D. degrees;

Nyabyeya Forestry College is the only one having certificate and diploma level studies.

The largest numbers of forestry graduates has been at the B.Sc. level in the last three years, which represents 80% of total graduates. The MSc and PhD degree qualifications are still few overall.

For all Forestry programmes at certificate level, the number of graduating students rose by 54% between 2008 and 2010 although with varying patterns by institution. In the last three years, lower-level qualifications increased at Nyabyeya Forestry College and was rather constant at the University of Kordofan.

At Nyabyeya Forestry College, 300 students graduated over 3 years at certificate level and 247 at diploma level. At University of Kordofan 77 students received the certificate level qualification .

 At Wondo Genet College, between 2008 and 2010, 2574 students graduated B.Sc. level while during the same period, 111 had their BSc at Makerere University, 107 at Mzuzu University and only 3 at University of Kordofan .

Graduating students also increased by 10% between 2008 and 2009 and 29% between 2009 and 2010 at Wondo Genet College. In other institutions the number of B.Sc. graduates was less than 70 students, but increased between 2009 and 2010 at Mzuzu University and Makerere University. At University of Kordofan the average is a graduate per year .

Only three institutions awarded M.Sc. from 2008 to 2010. At Wondo Genet College, 35 students graduates which represented 55% of all forestry programmes at M.Sc. level. During the same period, 26 students graduated at Makerere University and only 3 graduated at the University of Kordofan. There was no graduate in 2008 at Wondo Genet College and in 2010 at University of Kordofan.

University of Kordofan was the only one having a student graduating at Ph.D. level.

Graduation rates by gender balance

The graduation rates segregated by gender it shown in Figure 11. The proportion of male graduates  was by far superior to that of women graduates (16%). The high proportion of male graduates in BSc significantly distorts in the averages. However, there were differences in the proportions of graduates by gender at the institutions. Looking closely at gender distribution by institution, it is noted that at University of Kordofan especially, the trend is reversed. More than half of graduates at this University were women (65%) against 35% men.

Only University of Kordofan and Nyabyeya Forestry College, had students graduating certificate level. Between 2008 and 2010, at Kordofan in Sudan, 66% women and only 34% men graduated while at Nyabyeya Forestry College in Uganda 35% women and 65% men graduated at certificates level .

Over the same period, at Nyabyeya Forestry College, 79 diplomas were awarded to women and 168 to men. At diploma level also, there were more men than women (32%) graduates.

Between 2008 and 2010, the four institutions awarded a total of 2760 B.Sc. Wondo Genet College alone accounted for 96% of the graduating students. 90% of the graduates were men and only 10% were women. This trend is strongly influenced by the numbers of Wondo Genet College. Only University of Kordofan had more female than male graduates.

Among the surveyed institutions, Wondo Genet College was the only one with detailed programs for the B.Sc. training programme. Between 2008 to 2010, the following five programs produced the most graduates:

18% graduated in General forestry;

17% graduated in Natural resources management;

17% graduated in Soil resources and watershed utilization;

16% graduated in Agroforestry;

Sixty four M.Sc. degrees were awarded from 2008 to 2010. Of these 35 were from Wondo Genet College, 26 from Makerere University and 3 from University of Kordofan. 83% of the graduates were men while 17% women. In all institutions the majority of graduates were male. There were more Masters degree graduates at Makerere University than in any of the other institutions surveyed.

Between 2008 and 2010, Makerere University recorded the highest number of Ph.D. with 6 out of the 7 total Ph.D. graduates in both institutions. Again 71% of the Ph.D. graduates were men while 29% were women. University of Kordofan had only a woman graduating at Ph.D. level.

Countries interviewed although all of East Africa are historically, demographically and socio economically different. It appears that a comparative study between institutions is quite difficult but from the results obtained from this study trends in forestry education can be derived.

Concerning the number of staff within the institutions, the results however should be viewed against the student numbers. From this point of view, basing on forestry enrollment in 2010, Makerere University appears better off because it had one teacher for less than 2 students on average. This was followed by, Kordofan University with one teacher for 2 students, Mzuzu University with one teacher for 7 students, Nyabyeya Forestry College with one teacher for 10.5 students and Wondo Genet College with one teacher for a 35 students.

Of course, these deficiencies in forestry education are holding back the development of his country. It is important to review the contents of the forestry programs of African institutions, and even attempting to standardize these programs to improve faculty and thus promote academic exchanges between institutions.

The survey does not tell us, unfortunately the unemployment rate of graduates in forestry, which could assist in the revision of certain programs alas too fell.