University Don Attributes Farmers' Struggles to Academic Research Disconnect

A significant disconnect between academic research and grassroots farming communities is severely limiting the agricultural benefits that local farmers should be reaping from universities, a senior researcher has warned.

Speaking at the eighth National Agroecology Actors Symposium in Kampala, Dr Clovis Kabaseke from Mountains of the Moon University explained that much of the academic inquiry conducted by postgraduate students is primarily designed to secure degrees and satisfy examiners rather than address real-world farming challenges.

Dr Kabaseke noted that this long-standing gap has left agricultural producers with limited access to innovative findings that could improve productivity and livelihoods. However, he expressed optimism that ongoing higher education reforms, particularly the introduction of Competence-Based Education and Training (CBET), offer a viable path to bridge this divide.

Under the new framework, universities are encouraged to adopt participatory approaches, creating living laboratories and demonstration learning centres where farmers collaborate directly with researchers from problem identification to data interpretation.

The National Council for Higher Education has instructed all tertiary institutions to fully implement the CBET framework by the 2027/2028 academic year to ensure learners acquire practical, workplace-relevant competencies. Experts at the symposium also highlighted related challenges, including a severe shortage of agricultural extension workers and an over-reliance on hybrid seed funding at the expense of locally adapted varieties.

Read more about the academic research disconnect on the Daily Monitor.