Resumen de Design and implementation of degree programmes in Agricultural Sciences

Kamleshwar Boodhoo (coord.), Yemi Akegbejo-Samsons, Olubunmi Abayomi Omotesho, A. Elamrani, Taky Hortense Atta Epse Diallo, Mariama Sene Epse Wade, Christopher Mubeteneh Tankou, Rashid Ahmed Mohamed Hussein, Henry Raphael Mloza Banda, Esther Sakyi-Dawson, Bonaventure Minani, Randriany Jean Baptiste Ramaroson

• Agriculture plays an important role in the socio-economic development of most African countries. A high percentage of the people of Africa depend on agriculture as a source of livelihood. This sector contributes the highest percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) of most developing countries. Indeed, agriculture provides about 70 per cent of employment and 30 per cent of the Sub-Saharan gross domestic product (AGRA, 2017; World Bank, 2013a).

  Agriculture is also an important foreign exchange earner in the continent. It provides the raw materials for many industrial processes.

  And yet, though it has the potential to be an agricultural power, a combination of low productivity and an inadequate policy framework make Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the world’s most food-insecure region (Saghir, 2014). Agricultural production in Africa has not been able to keep pace with modern developments. At present, farmers in Africa often still work with rudimentary tools and employ age-old technologies (Adenle et al., 2017). They have little exposure to modern technological developments and education that can enable a more skilled exploitation and preservation of their natural resources (World Bank, 2013b).