| Project Title: Needs Assessment for developing Capacity for improved Aquatic Resource Development in Africa (NACARDA) |
| Funder: GCRF – KTN Innovate Fund. |
| Grant Amount: £40, 000 |
| Academic Lead Name: Alexandra Pounds (and Will Leschen) |
| Lead Organisation Name: University of Stirling |
| Partners: Dr. Patricia Muendo – Machakos University, Kenya; Dr Ruby Asmah – Water Resources Institute, Ghana; David Bargh and Precious Sanjama, Imani Development, Malawi. |
| Introduction/objective NACARDA conducted an assessment of training and education needs in Sub-Saharan African aquaculture. The goal was to give voice to actors in the sector, including those from industry, academia, NGO and government. Through participatory-led methods, key stakeholder interviews informed the design of an online survey. |
| Key Findings |
| The project highlighted: key sectoral needs in the country/region with regards to human resource (need for more in-service short courses etc) gaps in the current training (short practical exposure for graduates, insufficient financial/entrepreneurial skills etc), therefore a need for curriculum reviews/development and need for institutional capacity building to enable equipment of the institutions for practical training A need for IT infrastructure development in the country/region to enable access by all, especially in rural set up as this is the current available mode of reaching out to the stakeholders in the era of the pandemic All outputs were disseminated freely through the website https://nacarda.wordpress.com/. |
Outcomes and Impacts
| NACARDA produced: A comprehensive HR needs assessment report, a first robust assessment of training and education needs in Sub-Saharan African aquaculture. The participatory approach provided a platform for stakeholders to directly communicate their interpretation, opinions, and viewpoints on the needs of the industry. This has resulted in evidence-based recommendations for future interventions which have been disseminated to key NGOs (e.g. WorldFish, ThinkAqua). These recommendations demonstrate that there are a wide range of opportunities for human resources, skills, and mentorship development in Sub-Saharan Africa aquaculture sector, for projects with various budgets and timeframes. We expect that many of these recommendations will become the basis for future interventions with direct impact on human resources capacity in the Sub-Saharan Africa aquaculture sector. The project has resulted in development/strengthening of partnership relations between the partner institutions and opens possibilities for future collaborations, both in research and training. A partnership agreement for longer term working relations has been developed between Stirling University and Machakos University Insights from the project will inform future curriculum development in academic institutions to enable production of more practical oriented graduates and who also, have entrepreneurial skills |
