BSU II Progress Report: July-December 2015 · 2020-02-24 · BSU II Progress Report: July-December 2015 1 BSU II Progress Report for the Period: July-December 2015. This format is

BSU II Progress Report: July-December 2015

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BSU II Progress Report for the Period: July-December 2015.

This format is used for the half yearly progress report. The key issues that are in focus in this format relate to the activities since the annual reporting earlier in the year, and include the following:

• Project basic information • Progress since last reporting • Progress against Log frame / results framework • Overall reflection and challenges (New) • Project administration • Signatures The BSU II Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that this form is completed and submitted. As stated in the general Conditions, missing or unsatisfactory submission of reports and accounts is considered as non-compliance to the grant conditions. Deadline for submission is March 15, 2016. Please note that a combined annual accounts form (Appendix 3) must be submitted along with the half yearly progress report. The form for the accounts can be downloaded here http://dfcentre.com/research/building-stronger-universities-bsu/general-conditions-forms-and-templates/. Please note that the combined annual accounts should undergo external audit. Deadline for submitting annual accounts is April 1st, 2016. In case of doubt, please do not hesitate to contact DFC by mail at: [email protected]. Guidance • We encourage you to seek support from all partners in the writing of this report, keeping in

mind that the South coordinator is overall responsible for the reporting.

• Please keep in mind that you don’t have to write lots of pages - keep it brief.

Please expand the text boxes as necessary and copy/paste more boxes in the log frame table, if needed.


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Project basic information

Project title Building Stronger Universities (BSU) II

DFC File no. 14-B01-TAN (inception phase); BSU 2 - SUA (project phase)

Project coordinator Daniel Mushi

E-mail of coordinator [email protected]

Responsible institution Sokoine University of Agriculture

Partner institutions Aalborg University; Aarhus University; University of Copenhagen; Danish Technical University

Progress since last reporting

Changes / Comments regarding project management

Describe any main changes in management setup, if any - and how these have been implemented.

No changes in any of the four Focus Areas (FAs)

Have you shared information about the Partnership, the project and lessons learned with other BSU II projects or other relevant stakeholders since the previous reporting?

Please specify the type of information, and name(s) of stakeholder(s) with whom you have shared the information.

At SUA BSU II coordination team shared with SUA Vice chancellor (Prof. G. Monella) the progress of implementation BSU II on 20th November 2015. In addition, the team organised a meeting with the Deputy Vice Chancellor responsible for academics (Prof. P.R. Gillah) on 23rd November 2015 to update him on the progress on BSU II implementation. These efforts were geared towards ensuring institutional ownership of BSU II programme and hence secure institutional support. The Agricultural Value Chain (AVC) thematic group organised a workshop with external stakeholders appointed as advisory board members for the proposed PhD programme on 30th Nov 2015. The advisory board members are: Prof. Isaac Minde (Deputy Director, Innovative Agricultural Research Initiative - iAGRI), Dr. Agness Mwambaje (University of Dar es salaam) and Mr. Evarist Maembe (Managing Director, Tanzania Meat Products), Mr. Philip Alfred (Director, Corporate banking, CRDB). The intention was to facilitate familiarization of the PhD programme across board members before organizing for the board meetings. Similarly the Agro-ecology thematic area organised a meeting with SUA based stakeholders on 19 November 2015 to discuss the inputs from Danish partners to the curriculum for PhD Agro-ecology. The stakeholders were: Prof A.Z. Mattee – Dept. Agric. Education and Extension; Prof C.L. Rweyemamu – Dept. Crop Science and Production; Dr F. T. Magayane - Dept. Agric. Education and Extension; Dr S. Mmbaga – Dept. of Animal Science; Dr. P. Mtakwa – Dept of Soil Science; Prof A.J.P. Tarimo – Dept of Crop Science; Mr G. Bulenga – Dept. Forest Biology; Prof R. Mwamakimbullah – Dept. of Wood Utilization; Prof K.P. Sibuga – Dept. of Crop Science and Production. In addition the Agro-ecology team leader at SUA, presented course structure for the proposed PhD Agro-ecology curriculum to members of academic and technical staff in the Department of Crop Science and Production on 23rd December 2015. Members present were: Prof T. Msogoya (Head of Department); Prof C.L. Rweyemamu; Dr. P. Mamiro; Prof M. Mwatawala; Dr. G. Muhamba; Dr A. Luzi-Kihupi; Prof A.J.P. Tarimo; Mr B. Butoki; Mr. Tibanyendela; Prof R. Mnyuku; Ms Hellen Mbije; Prof P. Kusolwa; Mr. Luseko; Mr Rwezaura and Dr. A. Kudra. The purpose of the presentation was to enhance awareness on the proposed programme


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and to get input for improving the same. Likewise, the Aquaculture group at SUA organised a stakeholder workshop to get input for the proposed MSc curriculum for Aquaculture on 2nd December 2015. External stakeholders present were Dr. Ngoile (UDSM), Melton Kalinga (Kingolwira Fish Farm), Yovitta Mallya (Kingolwira Fish Farm), Betina Lukwambe (Morogoro Municipal council), Dr. A. Shoko (Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute), Mr. Kajitanus (Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development) On the Danish side, experiences and plans have been shared and discussed within each participating university in the Danish consortium. For example at DTU, joint meetings have been organised on a quarterly basis by Rector's Secretariat with DTU staff contributing to BSU II consortium. KU and AAU have more informal fora for disseminating and sharing BSU-experiences.

Progress against Log frame / results framework

Please report on the outputs/outcomes and implementation of activities as planned in the Inception Report, stating the progress and status of the started/completed activities, as well as any changes in the plan of activities (if any) and reasons for the change(s).

State outcomes and outputs exactly as approved in the Inception Report and report on each.

Please number the Outcome/Output, and insert more rows/boxes, if needed.

Output # 1A: FA1: Five PhD Agribusiness Courses Developed, Piloted, and Evaluated

Prepare curriculum, including general structure of the PhD programme and course requirements, develop required courses and source teaching materials Narrative:

The first draft of the proposed curriculum for the PhD Agribusiness programme was revised at SUA and shared with Danish partners in July 2015. To that effect, the Danish partners visited SUA during the Autumn to prepare the five PhD-courses, i.e. finalising the design, finalising the teaching team, identifying literature, initiating case preparation, preparing teaching plan and setting the dates for the pilot run. Materials for 2 courses namely, eLCA and Standards courses were sourced and compiled (this includes scientific journals, international data and analytical software). Detailed teaching plans for the two courses were duly completed. These were done in collaboration with Danish partners from DTU and Aalborg in which a link on open international data source was availed and accessed. Sourcing materials for the other 3 courses (Qualitative methods, Entrepreneurship and Value chain) is in progress. The materials are expected to be readily available before trial sessions which are scheduled for: 29th February to 11th March 2016 for eLCA course, 17th May to 27th May 2016 for Qualitative Methods course, 2nd May to 13 May 2016 for Value chain course, Mid August 2016 for Standards course (tentative dates 15-26), Mid September to early October 2016 for the Entrepreneurship and innovation course. All courses will each run for 14 days in the Spring and Autumn of 2016. Sourcing of more teaching material sourcing is still underway, specifically on local cases writing and on-line sourcing (identification of relevant websites with good teaching cases). So far four local cases for the eLCA course are in preparation and their framework was discussed and agreed upon. Development of other four cases for teaching was discussed and agreed upon. Compendia for two courses (eLCA and Standards) are complete while 3 (Qualitative methods, Entrepreneurship and Value chain) are in progress. The compendia include course outcome; course outline and plan; course material and reference list. The 8 cases (4 assignment cases and 4 teaching cases are expected to form part and parcel of the compendia. All compendia are expected to be ready for use during the intermittent trial sessions to start on 29 February 2016 through 30 September 2016.


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The revised curriculum was presented to stakeholders during consultation workshop on 30th November 2015. The workshop drew 15 participants from SUA management, SUA quality assurance bureau, Danish partners, external stakeholders who are expected to serve as members of the proposed PhD advisory board and SAEBS (former DAEA) staff. Participants from Denmark were Olav Jull Sørensen, Arne Wangel and Morten Birkvad. Olav Jull Sørensen had an official role as discussant. The workshop resulted in a number of concrete inputs to be included in the preparation of the final programme. The revised curriculum documents have been submitted to the School of Agriculture Economics and Business Studies (SAEBS) postgraduate committee for endorsement and further transmission to SUA Management. A mini proposal on construction of PhD small office building to accommodate PhD students was developed and submitted to DANIDA for approval. The proposal was requesting for reallocation of budget from sub-output 1.2 on provision of training delivery facilities to meet the construction cost. Some of the activities conducted at SUA during the period include designing of the building and provision of the bill of quantities (BOQ). Unfortunately the proposal was approved with a condition that the construction cost should not be more than 10% of the total budget as per DANIDA regulations. This called for re-organization to seek for additional funds from SUA internal sources.

Progress/status:

The PhD-courses are progressing according to activity plans although the actual time for delivering the courses have to some extent been rescheduled to avoid too many courses running within the same time period. Internal consultations are underway to look for a better way of handling PhD building construction matter within the prescribed conditions. Consultation with the SUA planning department is underway to revise the design and BOQ for the said building.

Output # 1B: FA1: PhD Handbook Compiled and Printed

Consult with SUA postgraduate management and develop regulations and guidelines for the PhD (Agribusiness) programme Narrative:

The AVC team consulted the SUA postgraduate management and General regulations booklets when developing regulations for the proposed PhD (Agribusiness) programme. The consultation is a continuous process thus the SUA management was also invited in the stakeholders’ workshop that was held on 30th Nov 2015 in which the curriculum was presented and later comments received and incorporated in the document. The PhD (Agribusiness) guidelines were developed and included in the overall programme curriculum. In addition, a schedule of indicative direct and indirect costs for the proposed PhD (Agribusiness) programme was prepared and included in the overall PhD programme guideline. The guidelines, including indicative costs were presented and discussed during the stakeholders’ consultative workshop on 30th November 2015. The comments given were incorporated before the document’s submission to SAEBS management. One of the major recommendations from the workshop was that the PhD programme should not only be cost-effective but also affordable to ensure sustainable off-take beyond the project life time. The handbook printing will proceed after approval of the PhD programme by the SUA management.

Progress/status: Implementation of this activity is largely in accordance to the work plan

Output # 2: FA1: Constituted Collaborative Research Group of Six SUA Staff members

Constitute research group; organize a seminar on research group organization, proposal writing and bidding with experiences from DK; proposal preparation and submission for funding Narrative:

Research group formation and research projects formulation is ongoing as part of the endeavors to


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establishing the new School of Agricultural Economics and Business Studies (SAEBS). Currently, the project is in the process of preparing operational manual for the research group(s), which will guide on how to work as a group within the School. A plan to write a proposal on how to form research groups and seek school-wide buy-in was suggested during November 2015 discussions and the AVC project is considering that line of action. The SUA BSU II research group received training from Danish experienced research group managers: Niels Fold (Oct 2015); Arne Wangel (Nov 2015) and a more comprehensive training with four sessions by Olav Jull Sørensen in December 2015. The training was primarily practical in nature, aiming at supporting the challenge of defining themes and research groups within the frame of the new School. Six members from the SAEBS (former DAEA) attended the training. Given the complexity of the subject matter, the AVC team was advised to write a proposal on the modality of forming research groups in a way that integrates the department’s (recently elevated to a School of Agricultural Economics and Business Studies) on-going efforts on a similar front. The proposal will then be discussed by all academic members of staff in SAEBS to determine the most effective type of research groups worth establishing. Additional training session in research group formation and operations is planned for the first half of 2016. On research proposal writing, the identification and preparation of applications have been discussed between the partners aiming at submitting a proposal for the Danida Sept 4th call. Although this call was cancelled preparations have continued in particular during the visits by Arne Wangel and Morten Birkvad in November 2015 where four concept notes were discussed, aiming at formulating one joint research proposal to be submitted for the next DANIDA Call or for other research funding opportunities.

Progress/status:

The formation of the BSU II research group is progressing and the group by now has the necessary inputs to establish themselves as a group. However, the actual formation is delayed to some extent due to ongoing discussion on the general organization of research and other activities in the new School. An additional research group formation training session is planned for the Spring of 2016.

Output # 3A: FA1: Eight DAEA-staff Deliver PhD Courses using Modern Pedagogical

skills. Well trained staff on organizing PhD courses, modern pedagogical skills and case writing and able to deliver/train PhD (Agribusiness) students Narrative:

This is an ongoing exercise as potential instructors of the PhD programme are involved in all steps of developing curriculum, compendia and teaching cases. Part of training workshop on the didactics for PhD-courses took place during the visit to Denmark in the Spring of 2015. A comprehensive training is now planned to be conducted during the trial run of the PhD courses in March 2016 and thereafter until late August 2016 when the trial runs end. Specific training for DAEA and Non-DAEA staff is expected to take place in April 2016. A case writing training workshop was conducted in two phases. The first phase was on case writing specifically as assignments for students while the second was on business teaching case writing. The training on the Assignment case writing was conducted in collaboration with two Danish partners from DTU from 19th Nov to 30th Nov 2015 in which four cases for eLCA course were identified and agreed on their framework. The cases are expected to be developed before the trial PhD course training-starting end of February 2016. The training on teaching case writing was conducted in early December 2015. The training was attended by 6 SAEBS members. The training comprised the principles (literature and lectures) as well as how to prepare a teaching case for each of the four PhD-courses (value chain, LCA, Standards and Innovation and Entrepreneurship), the 5th generic course entitled ‘Qualitative Research Methods’ was not included). Each case was allocated a lead person who is expected to complete putting up cases’ framework before 31.1.2016. These cases will be used in the implementation of the PhD-courses in the Spring-Autumn of 2016. Each team responsible for the agreed case will develop a framework and later carry out fieldwork for data collection. This is expected to be conducted in the quarter starting January 2016. A discussion of preparing a case-book took place based on the above mentioned cases to be prepared as well as


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other cases some of which already exist and some to be prepared. The idea will be discussed further in 2016 to see if commitment can be assured.

Progress/status:

Pedagogical skills of eight SAEBS staff have been improved through joint development of curriculum, compendia and teaching cases with Danish partners. Cases have been identified; resources are put aside for the collection of data, and some of the case frames have been developed by the end of 2015.

Output # 3B: FA1: A functional Agribusiness Advisory Board (AAB) with 5 external

members representing the agribusiness value chains actors and stakeholders

Organize and conduct board meetings, work on the list of confirmed internship placement opportunities Narrative:

Five appointed advisory board members for the proposed PhD programme were invited to the stakeholders’ consultative workshop, which was conducted on 30th Nov 2015. The intention was to facilitate familiarization of the PhD programme across board members before organizing for the board meeting. The first board meeting is expected to take place once the SUA management approves the programme. The board is comprised of 2 ladies and three gentlemen from different backgrounds including; members of the academia, a financial expert, private agro-export business owners, and a professional in globalization. These members will be responsible for: i) Assisting the School in building internship placement opportunities’ database, ii) Advising the School on the PhD course curricula evolution given demands of industry, iii) Assisting the School in soliciting/generating funds for running of the programme, iv) Advising the School on sustainability initiatives for the programme. The appointed board members have shown interest in providing assistance on this. The programme will also make use of the established internet platform that can assist student to search for internship post and employers to advertise and search for interns. The platform is to be hosted at the SAEBS website. There is synergy between this sub-project and another on-going educational projects on Energy- Agro-food which is funded under EduLink programme in which AVC team members are also involved.

Progress/status: Members of the advisory board have been appointed, given terms of reference and familiarised with the proposed PhD curriculum. Development of a database of internship posts is in progress.

Output # 1: FA2: PhD curriculum with emphasis in market oriented Agroecology developed

Curriculum developed and approved, SUA staff trained, Course material available Narrative:

In October 26- 31, 2015, two SUA staff from SUA (Prof Mwamakimbullah and Dr Sangeda) made a work visit to Denmark. This included a two days meeting at Copenhagen University (meeting with Andreas de Neergaard) and a 3 days meeting at Aarhus University meeting John E Hermansen, Troels Kristensen and Mette Vaarst. Extensive discussions with the team in Denmark led by Prof John Hermansen focused on: i. the proposed draft PhD Agro-ecology programme structure with core, required and elective

courses for four areas of specializations, and ii. conduct of the two generic courses (Multivariate Data Analysis and Hydrological Modelling)

managed under the Agro ecology thematic area. During the visit, content of different courses were discussed and reshaped and preliminary responsibilities in carrying out the courses were agreed. Staff have been identified and first drafts of course contents have been shared between SUA and Danish partners. Both SUA and Danish partners are involved in developing course contents for the programme. While in Copenhagen,


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identification of needed laboratory equipment was done. Consultation of the two SUA staff and the partners in Denmark resulted in the suggestion that areas of specializations be reduced from four, vis. (1) Agro Ecosystems and Climate Change, (2) Ecological Crop Production Systems, (3) Ecological Livestock Production Systems and (4) Socioeconomics, to two areas of specialization: (1) social aspects of Agro ecology and (2) biological aspects of Agro-ecology. However, when this suggestion was tabled at another stakeholder meeting held at SUA on 19th November, 2015, it was greed to drop the idea of specializations and instead develop a general PhD programme in Agro ecology. In this case, students interests would be catered for by the choice of elective courses that will be agreed upon by the student and his/her supervisor and on the basis of the courses selected students with different backgrounds will be able to guide their studies to a focused area with a leaning to crops, livestock, soils/water, or social economics, depending on their general interests. There shall be four core courses in semester one and five core courses in semester two with a number of electives in each semester.

Progress/status:

The establishment of the PhD programme in Agro ecology, including a course portfolio, at the College of Agriculture, SUA, is progressing, though slightly delayed as regard to submission of curriculum for approval by SUA authorities. At the time of preparing this report, the Tanzania team was in the process of preparing the PhD programme document in accordance with requirements of the University Qualification Framework (UQF) as per Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU). Final drafts of course contents are being collected and compiled for the fourth and last stakeholder meeting comprising of SUA and external staff scheduled for first week of March 2016.

Output # 2: FA2: A strong University – wide research group and sub groups

established with interest in Agro-ecology. Develop Strategy and infrastructure for agro-ecology group, Develop and submit research proposals to funding agencies Narrative:

SUA group has set a vision: “To be a recognized leading research entity for market-oriented agro-ecology training and research” with a mission “To promote agro-ecology research and development for sustainable production and income generation”. Following consultation with the Principal, College of Agriculture (formerly Dean, Faculty of Agriculture), the Agro-ecology group has been assigned an office to be furnished for use by the Research group, prospective PhD students and other Agro ecology stakeholders. About 22 SUA stakeholders who have consistently participated in stakeholder meetings have assumed the role of a core research group in Agro ecology. The group is called “ SUA Agro-ecology Research Group”

Research proposals were initiated with Partners from AU, SUA, CIAT-Nairobi, and TALIRI West Kilimanjaro. Project Title: Eco-efficient crop-livestock integration for green growth in northern Tanzania for submission to FFU, Denmark.

Progress/status:

Procurement of office and other equipment is at advanced stage. In the proposal mentioned two PhD-students were foreseen to be enrolled at SUA and would thus have contributed to the substantiation of the PhD programme in Agro ecology. Also cooperation between two Tanzanian institutions was initiated. Unfortunately, FFU cancelled the call in autumn 2015, and the application was not submitted. The agro-ecology research group has identified research themes and three research subgroups are now developing research concept notes for the purpose of developing full proposals. Themes that are being worked out in the concept notes and leaders in each subgroup are as follows: Invasive weeds in range lands – led by Dr. A. Sangeda; Farmer-Pastoralist conflict atlas – led by Prof. Mwamakimbullah; and Crop, livestock, forest and economics – led by Prof. Sibuga and Dr Lazaro.


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Output # 3: FA2: Two generic courses in Agro-ecology (i.e., Multivariate Data Analysis and Hydrological Modeling) developed and successfully delivered

Update materials for Multivariate Analysis and Hydrological modelling courses and conduct training Narrative:

Arrangements with resource persons from Denmark (Profs. Anne Mette Lykke and Anders Barfod) assisted by staff from SUA (Drs Kassile and Damas Philip) were finalized and training on Multivariate Data Analysis was scheduled for January 2016. The course contents were finalized in Denmark during SUA staff visit in October 2015 and the training programme was announced in November 2015 through SUA website seeking for course participants targeting mainly PhD students. By December 2015, 23 applications were received out of which 21 candidates were selected. Due to few numbers of female applicants, all 5 female candidates who qualified for the course were invited to attend. Communication with Denis Trolle of Aarhus University (Resource person for Hydrological modelling course) has been finalized and the course has been advertised and is planned to be mounted from February 22nd, 2016.

Progress/status:

On track according to the revised plan as detailed in the previous report. The mutual preparation of the courses between Danish and SUA staff ensures that the courses will be embedded within SUA. The general agreement was for the course leader (SUA) to make arrangements to collect available local data for soil maps, elevation maps, land use maps, climate (min/max temperature, precipitation, wind speed, relative humidity and solar radiation), river discharges, and agricultural practices. The training will use free SWAT software that can be used for the course including QGIS (powerful open source GIS package, with similar functionalities as ArcGIS), QSWAT and purchase additional software to support the various modelling needs. The course will target PhD students and other University staff.

Output # 1: FA3: Research based teaching skills in aquaculture group strengthened

Preparation of curriculum for MSc Aquaculture, Approval of the curriculum by the Faculty Board, run Test course in fish nutrition Narrative:

The curriculum for MSc. Aquaculture was prepared according to University qualification framework (UQF) format in Tanzania. The curriculum was presented to stakeholders on 2nd December 2015 at the ICE conference hall, SUA. Comments and suggestions from the stakeholders were incorporated into the curriculum. The curriculum has been submitted to the Postgraduate Studies Committee of the College of Agriculture for approval. A training course on fish nutrition and bioenergetics was conducted at the seminar room, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning, SUA, Tanzania from 16 to 19th November 2015 and the course facilitator was Peter Vilhelm Skov from DTU Aqua, Denmark. A total of 12 staff members from the Aquaculture section in the Department of Animal, Aquaculture and Range Sciences participated in the course. This is an MSc. course and the training had a particular focus on research based teaching as opposed to textbook teaching. The aim was to make Lecturers at SUA able to run the course for MSc students.

Progress/status:

Overall, the progress has overall been good with a high level of activities in 2015. The MSc. Aquaculture curriculum has been developed and submitted for approval. Though, it has been delayed for approximately six months, we expect that the curriculum will be approved by the University Senate before May 2016 and the first batch of students admitted in October 2016. A proposal has been developed for funding the first batch of students and submitted to Aquaculture and Fisheries Innovation Lab in USA.


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Output # 2: FA3: Strengthening of research skills and facilities in aquaculture group

Formation of a forum of East African and Danish aquaculture experts, Participation in international conferences, establishment of aquaculture teaching and research facilities. Narrative:

A workshop for establishment of aquaculture network in East Africa was held on 23rd - 25th September 2015 at Olasiti, Garden, Arusha, Tanzania. A total of 20 participants attended, 3 were from Uganda, 4 from Kenya and the remaining 13 participants were Tanzanians. Participants came from Ministries, Universities, Fisheries training colleges and research institutions in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. A workshop was organized with the aim of reviewing the current state of aquaculture in East Africa, identifying bottlenecks and priority areas of research, and to form a forum for aquaculture researchers for collaboration in research and dissemination of research results. During the workshop presentations were made on various topics including overview of Aquaculture in Tanzania, Overview of Aquaculture in Kenya, and Research and Development Status of Aquaculture in Uganda. At the end of the workshop the participants decided to form a forum named "Aquaculture Network for East Africa (ANEA)". The purpose of this Network is to promote aquaculture best management practices (ABMPs) and exchange of information. A working group was formed to spearhead the formation of the Network. This working group was charged with the responsibilities of developing a constitution for the Network. One research team member (Dr. Lamtane) attended a WIOMSA conference in South Africa from 26 to 30th October 2015, as part of the effort to strengthen research skills of the Aquaculture research group. Dr. Lamtane presented a paper titled "Observation on growth performance of mud crab (Scylla serrata) fattened in three different salinity levels in Pangani estuary, Tanzania. A total of six earthen ponds with capacity of 600 m2 were constructed as an effort to strengthen research facilities for aquaculture. These ponds will be used for conducting experiments by both students and staff. A laboratory equipment (Foss ST 243 SOXTEC) has been bought. The equipment will be used for analysis of fat in fish and animal feeds. In addition, a solar back-up system comprised of 12 solar pannels, four batteries and an inverter has been procured and installed at the Department of Animal, Aquaculture and Range Sciences.

Progress/status:

There has been high level of implementation. It is expected that the Aquaculture Network for East Africa (ANEA) will be registered by end of September 2016. For sustainability purpose, efforts will be made to make it an East Africa chapter for World Aquaculture Society and annual membership fee will be introduced after the formal establishment of the Network. The facilities installed at the department has contributed to the improvement of research and teaching environment.

Output # 3: FA3: Establishing generic courses/training activities to support research

skills across the university (with participation from other departments/themes)

Conduct training of young researchers and PhD students on experimental design and analysis Narrative:

A course on experimental design and statistical analysis was conducted at Morogoro, Hotel, Morogoro, Tanzania from 19th to 23rd October 2015 and the course facilitators were Sigrun Jónasdóttir, Andre Visser and Marja Koski from DTU Aqua, Denmark. A total of 28 staff from SUA participated in this course, 18 of them were PhD students and the remaining 10 were academic staff. The course aimed at introducing students to the best practices in modern scientific method. Lectures were given on the topics: Scientific thinking, Hypotheses testing, Experimental Design, Statistics related to experimental design, Experimental execution, Statistics related to experimental execution, Modelling, and Multivariate statistics.

Progress/status:


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Development of the two generic courses is going according to plan. All planned courses will be implemented according to plan. SUA instructors have participated in these courses and it is expected that they will be able to teach this course to MSc. students of the proposed MSc. Aquaculture.

Output # 1 : FA4: Stable power supply

Study of SUA electrical power supply system, Identification of supplier, Acquisition and installation of a power back up system Narrative:

The exercise of identifying a qualified service provider for power backup system has been completed. The service provider (contractor) has been identified, contract has been signed and now the schedule of activities is being worked on. Extension of the service to the Finance Department will be effected once the contractor is on the site.

Progress/status:

Implementation of this activity is a bit delayed. This is because procurement of materials and services is bound by general government and/ or university procedures and regulations that must be adhered to. Following such procedures has resulted into inevitable delays that posed a challenge to timely implementation of this activity.

Output # 2 : FA4: More efficient administration of research projects at SUA

Implementing a document tracking system Narrative:

A Danish expert visited SUA in August 2015 to complete a study on document processing time from one office to another and teamed up with SUA staff to identify suitable options for a document tracking system. The assessment involved administration of questionnaires, interviews and ‘on-site’ demonstrations of systems in place at SUA (full report is available). The assessment identified strengths, current challenges, suggestions for improvement and key recommendations in order to ensure more efficient administration of research projects at SUA. A key recommendation is to design and implement an Electronic Financial Management System at SUA for payments. The activity on designing and implementing an Electronic Financial Management System (EMS) for payments has been initiated with regard to identification of needs for hardware and equipment in order for SUA to operationalize EFMS for payments. BSU II has teamed up with iAGRI project at SUA and the Directorate of Computer Center to pool resources together in order to establish a comprehensive electronic document management system (EDMS) at SUA. The envisaged system will offer a wide range of services beyond finance management. In this joint venture, BSU met the cost of some hardware (2 pcs of Dell Vostro 3900 series, 2 pcs of HP ScanJet Enterprise 9000 series, 35 pcs of HP Scanner G3110, 1 pc of BCI Office Manager In-a-Box). The computer centre will cover the cost of two servers while the iAGRI project will cover the cost of developing software for the proposed EDMS. With the support from the Danish partner and DFC, BSU II ordered the hardware from Denmark in December 2015 and the shipment is expected to reach SUA no later than end of February 2016. The Computer Centre has purchased the servers. iAGRI has signed contract with the software developer (Niafikra). The software developer will visit SUA shortly for software requirement verification.

Progress/status:

The Assessment Report has been introduced and disseminated to all stakeholders within SUA – the report, findings and key recommendations have been endorsed by SUA Management. The Assessment Report is the basis for the Action-Plan for the ongoing activities and initiatives at SUA. Implementation of electronic document management system is ongoing and will continue in 2016. IT-hardware has been ordered; equilibration of the EDMS at SUA will be done in collaboration with CG


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Consulting (member of the Danish Consortium).

Overall Assessment (X/tick boxes as relevant):

The project design and logic remains sound, the planned outputs will eventually contribute/lead to the desired outcomes: FA1: yes FA2: yes FA3: yes FA4: yes The project design and logic may have to be reconsidered (please explain below): FA1: no FA2: no FA3: no FA4: no The project implementation is largely on track, and activities will result in the envisaged outputs within the current phase II timeframe: FA1: yes FA2: yes FA3: yes FA4: yes The project implementation is somewhat off track, some outputs may not be fully achieved within the current phase II time frame (explain below): FA1: no FA2: no FA3: no FA4: no The project implementation is off track, several outputs will not be achieved within the current phase II time frame (explain in full detail below): FA1: no FA2: no FA3: no FA4: no

Narrative - Please explain the reasons for your selections (ticks): Almost all outputs are on track according to the work plans with some activities being finalized, others being in the process of implementation while some are slightly delayed due to minor organizational problems and a slower start-up pace than anticipated. The drafting of two PhD programmes and one Master’s Programme with related course portfolios is a major achievement; some of the courses have been implemented. Research infrastructure is being consolidated including initial research group formation and drafting of joint research proposals. Didactic training are initiated. Administrative procedures have been analyzed; suggested changes have been endorsed by SUA management and are now in the process of implementation. Overall reflections and challenges

Please explain how progress in the individual outputs jointly are contributing to the overall aim of the outcome area / work package including how you assess the implemented activities to contribute to strengthening the capacity of your institution improving the academic research environment and research processes, i.e. in terms of research policies, strategies, organisation and research processes improved:

In Agricultural value chain (AVC) focus area, the intended outcome is to have fully functional PhD (Agribusiness) program and one large research project on-going under a consolidated functional collaborative research group by 2017. The individual courses developed so far make a complete package of core courses for the new PhD programme in Agribusiness as articulated in the proposed curriculum. PhD programme in Agribusiness opens new avenues for research, which SUA had not ventured into before. The courses developed are novel in that they are not taught at any other level of University training at SUA hence a recipe for new academic and research capacity development. The advancement made so far in the formation and equilibration of collaborative research group has created enabling environment for research capacity building and research-based teaching. The entire process is furthering institutional and individual (SUA staff involved in the project) capacity building.


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The intended outcome in agro-ecology focus area is to have a PhD programme and other tailor-made courses in Agro ecology instituted at the Faculty of Agriculture by 2017. In the process of developing the PhD curriculum in Agro-ecology, the thematic area has involved multi-stakeholders within and outside SUA thus not only creating awareness on Agro-ecology concepts, but as well, making it possible for staff to have time to understand the concept of Agro-ecology and to stimulate interest in the subject matter. Various engagements have culminated in the formation of an agro-ecological research group. SUA academic staff have shown interest in participating in the process of developing research proposals as proposed by focus area core group. Both multivariate data analysis and hydrological modelling training courses have attracted large number of applicants and/or participants, which shows knowledge needs in these areas. Training on these areas will help build capacity of SUA students, staff and other stakeholders of Agro- ecology in the country.

In aquaculture theme, the intended outcome is establish state-of-the-art research and research based teaching in aquaculture, including an active regional/international research network, and to capacitate teaching staff in curriculum development and running MSc and PhD research based courses and better skills for writing good research proposals and publications by 2017. All planned activities have been implemented according to the project plan (. i.e. training of SUA staff on didactics and pedagogical skills, conducting a workshop on curriculum development in Denmark, preparation of MSc. Aquaculture curriculum, running a test course on fish nutrition, organizing a workshop for aquaculture experts in East Africa, training of PhD students and young researchers at SUA on experimental design, construction of experimental ponds and tanks, purchase of research facilities and equipment and participation in international conferences). All these activities are contributing to the overall goal of the project of establishing state-of-the-art research and research based teaching in Aquaculture at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). It is envisaged that by implementing project activities jointly with Danish researchers, SUA teaching staff have improved their capacity for developing curriculum, teaching and conducting research. The faculty staff trained in didactics and pedagogy, experimental design and statistical analysis have formed the human resource base for training of other staff. Thus SUA will continue to offer the training, even after the end of this project. This will enable SUA to produce graduates in Aquaculture that are competent and well equipped to address socio-economic development needs of fish farming in Tanzania. Moreover, the improved research facilities and capacity of researchers has contributed to improved quality of research, hence; provide appropriate solutions to the problems facing fish farmers. The improved capacity will contribute to improved aquaculture production thus improving food and nutritional security, and alleviating poverty.

Although it takes time for a cohesive research group to be formed and become functional, attempts have been implemented through trainings received from Danish experienced research group managers. In addition a process that involved inviting the same stakeholders to all meetings provided opportunity to develop cohesive thinking and appreciation of how the process has graduated from a needs assessment to implementation of project activities and achievement of set goals and objectives. This process has also been aided by the BSU II coordination office at SUA which organized high level seminars involving University administrators to raise awareness and create conditions for better understanding and support from Heads of Departments, Deans and Directors and top University leaders. Information sharing has been key in stimulating active engagement and participation in implementation of project activities. Overall, the three thematic areas are immensely synergistic and cross-fertilizing. For instance, the AVC thematic area is about to integrate a course on ‘Systems thinking’ from the ‘Market oriented Ecology’ thematic area into its list of elective courses. This will then enhance inter-departmental/school cooperation at SUA. On the other hand, fish farming ponds under the aquaculture thematic area are a rich source of data for practical sessions in the eLCA course under the AVC thematic area. Narrative text including references to progress and changes implemented: (approximately ½ page using elaborated text – no bullet points): Progress towards the targeted outcomes is tangible and largely in accordance with the schedule despite delays in certain areas. Project activities and associated outputs are well linked and form a coherent entity that supports a better organization of general research and the establishment of selected PhD and Master’s programmes. As for the latter, regulations have been formulated and courses are jointly developed, ready for pilot testing in 2016; some have already been implemented. New efforts have been devoted to capacitate staff to apply research-based teaching as opposed to textbook facts teaching.


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Research groups are being formed and joint proposals prepared although external factors to the project have slowed achievements of the expected progress. It is envisaged that further expansion and consolidation of project activities will support the university’s efforts to improve collaboration with private and public actors in the primary sector of Tanzania, i.e. in fish-farming, crop farming, primary processing, logistics, regulatory institutions, etc. Tanzania has recently (2014) adopted a University Qualification Framework (UQF) with specified minimum credits for each level of education (BSc/BA, MSc/MA and PhD). The PhD and MSc programmes under BSU II are pioneer programmes developed at SUA following the UQF guidelines as set out by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU). The UQF is helping in the development of the programme with clearly defined credits; expected learning outcomes; an indication of the teaching and assessment strategies and expected practical skills to be acquired by prospective students. In AVC in particular, curriculum and compendia development, which are the major activities, are both at advanced stages of development. Planning for the trial run has also been successfully spread over the period from February – August 2016. Renovation of the mini-building has been delayed a bit due to the resource limitation and bureaucracy involved. However, most of the pre-requisites have already been met and work is to start within quarter six. Research group formation is the most challenging activity given the inherent complexity in it. Consultations from DK have been received and the project is looking at the best way of adopting them in the SUA/SAEBS setting. The process of developing the PhD Agro ecology programme structure started slowly and is progressing. The Department of Crop Science, where the programme is hosted, and the College of Agriculture (formerly Faculty of Agriculture) where Crop Science is based, are prepared to own the programme and eagerly waiting for the process to be completed. Developing the course contents has required that staff adopt an expanded view at issues pertaining to sustainable agriculture. At the same time the process has given an opportunity for staff to consider the entire landscape and using a value chain approach without losing focus on the key characteristics of Agro-ecology. All along, it has been a collaborative process involving north and south partners. The generic course on Multivariate Data Analysis has provided opportunity for the Danish partners to share expertise with their south partner (SUA) but also provided an opportunity for SUA to gain experience in running short courses targeting PhD students. In so doing, there is a growing collaboration and partnerships between North and South. During the development of PhD curriculum SUA has managed to forge new linkages with agro ecology networks and platforms such as African Organic Network, Rudel institute, E-crop, ICRAF, TOAM, PELUM, MVIWATA and SAT. This collaboration will be strengthened through the Agro ecology research group that involves these members. Most of these stakeholders have supported the idea of having the PhD curriculum on agro ecology, which has been lacking in the country. Please explain what are the main major risks and challenges to successful implementation of the overall objective and how these risks are being managed mitigated: Generally, one of the challenges is that BSU II is a short project while capacity building is an extended process both in terms of organizational changes and human resource development. Within BSU II time frame, it will not be possible to test how the PhD programme will be received as the two years only allow for the programme to be developed without enough time for the programme to be offered and tested. Mitigation for this type of risk is through internalization of knowledge by staff training with much hands-on practice. On the other hand, the approval process at SUA goes through several committees over which BSU II has no full control in terms of timing. To mitigate this, it has been agreed that where necessary, special committee meetings will be arranged to discuss the proposed PhD programme for a formal approval of the PhD programme at the SUA level. BSU II has developed new PhD programmes some of which do not have a component of funding (scholarships) to kirk-start initial student recruitment and help in popularizing the programme. The major risk may be connected with few students who are able to pay from own sources, in case of failure to secure sponsorship. As BSU is a very short-lived programme (two-year phase), efforts have been made to engage stakeholders from potential sources of students, like government ministries, NGOs, Universities and similar organizations so that word goes around, in the early stages of development, of the anticipated new programme about to be launched at SUA in collaboration with partners in Denmark. It is also understood that the two years for implementing BSU II activities may not be sufficient to change mind-set, systems and processes particularly if some of the aspects concerned are governed by other


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external bodies and/or factors (eg. the procurement process). However, there is indication, through the various stakeholder meetings held so far, that there is increased understanding and acceptance of BSU initiatives. Approval of curricula is bound by university procedures and regulations that must be adhered to. Following such procedures in some cases results into inevitable delays that pose a challenge to timely inaugurations of proposed programmes. This is mitigated by close follow up of the responsible offices and ensuring paperwork is fast tracked. However, such delays affect on the timeliness of implementation but not the overall success in implementation of the objectives. Another challenge is limitation of the existing university infrastructure especially buildings for office space and classrooms. New requirements for office space require strong argumentation/justification and negotiations for relocation and change of current use of available office spaces, as was the case when securing the office to be dedicated to the PhD Agro ecology students and research group. Time devoted to the BSUII project is challenged by the many additional commitments by key participants in the partnership. Time constraint on the part of project members following overlapping schedules is mitigated by project members backstopping each other to enable their time-outs from their other obligations at the University e.g. swapping of teaching timetables during field works for case writing. Spreading of trial run session over the said period above is also meant to cushion this pressure. Other challenges are the limited staff resources and the dependence on key persons to design, implement and execute the activities. Mitigation is through careful monitoring and revising time plans so that deadlines are kept within the project period. The other risk is that the researchers for a particular thematic area may be assigned other responsibilities by University such as administrative posts, and hence, will have limited time for implementing project activities. Having four key researchers in each theme mitigates this risk and it is unlikely that all key researchers will be assigned administrative responsibilities at the same time. Moreover, efforts have been made to involve all staff in respective departments in implementing the project activities. Thus, appointment of some researchers to new positions will not affect the implementation of the project activities. There is likelihood that some of the activities will continue being implemented beyond the BSU II project lifetime. In order for the momentum to be maintained, an extension of BSU II to BSU III would be vital for providing an opportunity to execute the PhD programmes and any successful research projects that may come out of the current effort in developing concept notes, and eventually, research proposals to secure funding from organizations. Please explain how progress in the individual outputs jointly are contributing to the overall aim of the outcome area / work package including how you assess the implemented activities to contribute to strengthening the capacity of your institution building the needed administrative and infrastructure backing of the university, i.e. university wide services and facilities to support research activities strengthened: At the programme level, BSU II has various thematic areas anchored in academic departments, including one that is anchored in the Finance Department. This has helped to build capacity in handling projects involving development partners, specifically DANIDA. Attempt by BSU II to install electronic document management system (EDMS) at SUA has improved SUA’s efficiency in documentation and information flow. It is envisaged that this intervention will have great impact on the management of research grants in terms of time taken to process payments and produce financial reports. The provision of power back-up system will ensure steady process flow and minimise lag time in processing payment and financial reports. Through the Agro-ecology thematic area, various office and lab equipment have been ordered which will be used to support research activities. Facilities (laboratory equipment, power back-up) and infrastructures (fish ponds) installed at the Department of Animal, Aquaculture and Range Sciences have also contributed to the overall goal of the project of establishing state-of-the-art research and research based teaching in aquaculture at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA).


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Renovation of the mini-building at SAEBS is expected to provide conducive environment for PhD students. Moreover, the facility will enable PhD students’ interaction university-wide given the space to be created. The mini-building will narrow down the existing spatial separation between PhD students and supervisors. Conference facilities to be equipped in the PhD building will ease communication between students and instructors thus providing a conducive environment for teaching, learning and research. Narrative text including references to progress and changes implemented: (approximately ½ page using elaborated text – no bullet points): Administrative procedures are strengthened through hands-on practice related to 1) approval of the PhD-programme and courses, 2) call for the courses, 3) administration of applications, and 4) design of the IT-platform for running the courses. Preliminary identification of needs for laboratory equipment will support the overall research facilities at SUA. A detailed activity plan for administration of research funds have been agreed and shared among all relevant stakeholders within SUA and the Danish Consortium. The detailed activity plan clearly specifies the actual activity, the given resource persons involved and a description of the work to be conducted. Given the priority of having the PhD mini-building in place at the SAEBS, acquisition of anticipated equipment in the proposal has been postponed. The equipment in question include training and communication facilities for anticipated teleconferencing. An Assessment Report of the conducted needs assessment has been issued and endorsed by the SUA Management. This report includes highlights on key-recommendation as to what and how SUA should progress in order to achieve more efficient administration of research projects at SUA. Please explain what are the main major risks and challenges to successful implementation of the overall objective and how these risks are being managed mitigated: Procurement of materials and services is bound by general government and/ or university procedures and regulations that must be adhered to. Following such procedures in some cases result into inevitable delays that pose a challenge to timely implementation of activities. This is mitigated by close follow up of the responsible offices and ensuring paperwork is fast tracked. However, such delays affect on the timeliness of implementation but not the overall success in implementation of the objectives Identified key staff to execute the activities often have other obligations, sometimes, there are changes in the staff attached to the BSU-project, etc. all of which may pose a risk for the project. However, as for the administrative procedures for research funding the detailed activity plan is in place covering the whole of 2016 until the end of BSU-II. The remaining activities have been planned back-to-back in order to optimize the use of time and key staff. Project administration Substantive changes in the project (content and/or persons) – if any Specify and explain the changes that have been identified and agreed to. Please attach an updated version of the Gantt Chart/Plan of Activities.

NIL

Date of approval from DFC (if required according to the General Conditions).

NA

Circumstances which require action from Danida Fellowship Centre – if any

Specify type of required action?

NA


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The project coordinator and the responsible institution herewith confirm that the information given in the progress report is correct:

Documents

BSU II Progress Report: July-December 2015 · 2020-02-24 · BSU II Progress Report: July-December 2015 1 BSU II Progress Report for the Period: July-December 2015. This format is