The 2015 regional conference on transforming the dairy sector in Africa through education and training aims to provide a platform for dairy farmers, extension staff and other practitioners, educators and trainers in the dairy sub-sector together with all stakeholders along the dairy value chain in Africa and beyond to actively participate, and share findings and experiences, while at the same time learning lessons towards effectively transforming the dairy sector into a competitive economic sector. The 2015 regional conference therefore provides dairy farmers, the industry, institutions of higher learning, local and international development agencies with an opportunity to review the current status of the dairy education and training in Africa, assess the progress made so far in the dairy sub-sector through training and education and lessons to be learnt from similar curricula from Europe. This will help to develop strategies to overhaul the training needs of Africa’s institutions to facilitate economic growth in the dairy sub-sector. The conference targets local, regional and international dairy farmers, experts, practitioners, researchers involved in dairy curriculum development and training.

The overall theme for the conference was “Transforming Dairy Education and Training for Health and Wealth in Africa”

The presentation were categorized as per the sub-themes as follows;

Sub-theme: Status of Dairy Education and Training in Africa
Chair: Dr. Mary Ambula (Kenya)

Sub-theme: Dairy Education and Training
Chair: Prof. Timothy Gondwe (Malawi)

Sub-theme: Case Studies of Competence-Based Curricula in Dairy
Chair: Prof. Serekye Annor (Ghana)

Plenary
Chair: Alberto Giani (The Netherlands)

Focus Area
1. What improvements are needed in the current Dairy Education and Training Curricula to prepare for the future of the Dairy Sector in Africa?
2. What is the role of the various stakeholders involved in implementing these improvements?
3. What role should the donor community play in this success?
4. What role should the proposed African Dairy Academy play in advancing Dairy Education and Training?

Presentation of results from group discussion;

1. What improvements are needed in the current Dairy Education and Training Curricula to prepare for the future of the Dairy Sector in Africa?
2. What is the role of the various stakeholders involved in implementing these improvements?
3. What role should the donor community play in this success?
4. What role should the proposed African Dairy Academy play in advancing Dairy Education and Training?

A mentoring programme is to be

Prof. Dr. sc. agr. A. K. Kahi is currently the leading scientist with the highest number of publications

This semester adds credit to the previous one we have had. We have made great strides yet each step can only be described with a success story. We continue to produce solutions as wealso keep on learning. Programmes of this magnitude are never without challenges, but that has not stopped us from forging forward. DAIRYCHAIN has made a mark as can be shown by what we have accomplished so far.

In brief I applaud our efforts as we continue to accomplish our tasks. We continue to make a mark in the Dairy Value Chain and our steps have grown from baby steps from the inception meeting to giant steps given where we are in the project. Please take some time to read this issue of the newsletter to get a grasp of what we have up to this semester. We hope our newsletter gets a wider readership to enhance adoption of out outputs. You can also get a copy of the newsletter online at www.dairychain. organd help us circulate it widely.

Thank You.