A Higher Education Capacity Assessment Framework: A Case Study in Malawi

• In Event: 75.049 - Globalized Contexts for Collaboration, Change, and Reform

Abstract

Over the next 40 years, the food system in Africa will shift from an emphasis on farming to post-harvest industries, such as distribution, packaging, and processing. This shift requires new kinds of workers throughout the value chain. Higher education institutions are crucial to a developing country’s Workforce Development system. This paper describes a framework for assessing institutional capacity at agricultural higher education institutions in developing countries and examines, through interviews, focus groups, and document analysis, a single institution in Malawi. Results of this study will inform targeted areas of reform and the framework could serve as a larger structure for guiding larger investment initiatives in higher education.

Authors

• Lucas Benjamin Hill, Michigan State University

• Inese Berzina-Pitcher, Michigan State University

• John Bonnell

• John M. Dirkx, Michigan State University

• Sekanawo Kasiya, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Malawi

• Tom Smith

• Mary Vann, HPMC Corporation