Mobility 4 Agricultural International Networks Supporting Thematic Resilience and Enhancing Adaptation and Mitigation (MAINSTREAM) strives to influence common agenda for addressing education and skills improvement for the agricultural knowledge systems (focusing on climate change resilience) both at regional and country levels targeting transformations with the:
- Tertiary agricultural education community (networking, South-South exchanges, leadership and entrepreneurship programmes, etc.);
- Policy and industry actors
The project provides pathways for institutional modernisation and internationalisation reforms, leveraging the consortia existing partnership on agriculture education and skills with other public and private organisations involvement across the continent to drive innovative solutions and value addition in interdisciplinary agricultural programmes at master and doctoral levels and further inspire their inclusive implementation.
The inclusion aspect shall particularly be seen with the African women population (often with intersectional vulnerability) who are underrepresented in HE agricultural programmes, even though they make up half of the agricultural labour force.
The Mobility scheme shall be used also to break crossAfrican gendered perceptions of agriculture that underestimate women and girls´ participation and to further provide for a gender-sensitive learning environment and institutional culture as well as for addressing infrastructure, support services and safety.
MAINSTREAM aims to provide credible and standing solutions defying low academic and mobility of workforce across Africa, increasing the focus on applied research in climate-sensitive Agricultural Education and Training, addressing limited appeal and participation of vulnerable and underrepresented groups, including youth and women, in agricultural learning systems, and promoting a set of supportive cross-regional measures for policy considerations. Thus, the project facilitates agricultural programmes graduates to access meaningful community development engagements across the continent.
The Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme is EU’s programme to encourage international learning mobility across the African continent. The programme provides support for consortia of African Higher Education Institutions and scholarship opportunities for African trainees, students and staff.
The Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme is part of the Youth Mobility for Africa flagship initiative which aims to support learning opportunities and exchanges and ultimately to promote Africa as an attractive study destination.