1. The role of higher education and capacity building in poverty eradication Professor Dr Ruth Haug Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

2. The knowledge economies 1. The World Bank has gone through a paradigm change under Wolfensohn, investing in secondary and tertiary education based on the success of India and East-Asia (technology and natural science). (Stiglitz, 2005) 2. Universities in developing countries are too academic and remote from practical needs of society

3. Higher Education and PRSPs: Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia  To what degree have PRSPs influenced agricultural universities  What is needed for successful tranformation of agricultural universities  What lessons can be learned and recommendations for the future

4. Education important in PRSPs  Ag. Education barely mentionned in PRSPs  Quality of Ag Education is not a priority (interdisciplinarity, problem solving capacity)  Increased student enrolment and physical infrastructure a priority  Universities are not receiving the necessary resources to play a role in poverty reduction  Graduates lack practical skills and entrepreneurship  A great need for relevant and affordable teaching and training materials

5. Capacity building: Lessons learned from 30 years of institutional collaboration  From one-way students and infrastructural investment to two-way students and joint degrees/joint research  From guaranteed jobs to self/ unemployment and braindrain  From technical training to interdisciplinary programmes with a poverty focus and ”leaders of tomorrow” drive

6. Challenge: How to transfer the capacity which has been built into poverty eradication  Need for structural changes and a focus on quality in education  Need to assess the impact of higher education and research on poverty eradication  Need for human and monetary resources to utilize the capacity