Scientists in Crop Improvement for Food Security in Africa (SCIFSA) Scholarships

SCIFSA is a partnership of five African Universities in Eastern, Western and North Africa lead by Makerere University in Uganda. The members of this partnership are Makerere University (Uganda), University of Ghana, Legon (Ghana), University of Eldoret (Kenya), University of Cairo (Egypt) and Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (Senegal).  The partnership also has Politechnika Slaska (Poland) as a technical partner and Regional University forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture – RUFORUM as an Associate partner. Through funding from EU under Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme, the partnership will collaborate in the training of professionals in crop improvement and horticulture to achieve sustainable food security in Africa.  A total of 24 Masters (6 credit seeking, 18 degree-seeking) and 12 Doctorates (4 credit seeking, 8 degree-seeking) will be trained in the thematic areas of Plant breeding and seed systems, Biotechnology, seed science and technology, Agronomy and Vegetable crop production, Pesticides and plant protection and Plant and microbial technology.  The project is expected to contribute to a) improved skills and competences of academic staff in, research, training and supervision, b) enhanced quality of graduate training that will lead to innovative and fit-for-purpose professionals in Crop production improvement c) improved skills and competences of administrative staff in implementing international mobility. Subsequently, a procedure/platform to support the harmonisation and internationalisation of Crop production programmes among African Universities shall be achieved.