Challenges and Solutions to Higher Education Institutions in Africa

The purpose of this study was to explore ways that higher education institutes (HEI’s) that offered agriculture education and training (AET) in their curriculum could change the behavior to improve the quality of education offered to students. Faculty at a regional conference in Africa participated in a daylong focus group workshop aimed at addressing these needs and offering solutions that could be implemented immediately. Using the theory of planned behavior as a guide, participants discussed the challenges and solutions they saw at their institutions and the amount of time it would take to implement changes. A qualitative analysis was conducted using a codebook to analyze various pieces of data that included video clips and artifacts created by the participants at the workshop. Results from the analysis were split in two main themes, challenges or solutions. The main challenges included access to higher education and lack of preparation at the primary and secondary level of school. The main solutions proposed were to restructure the leadership and offer more training to faculty through mentoring programs. These results can guide higher education initiatives for agriculture education and training as well as other discipline areas in higher education.