Polytechnic University in Ethiopia: Russian Education for Africa’s Food Security

As part of the International Conference on Ensuring the Food Sovereignty of African Countries, held in Addis Ababa, Russian universities and research institutes presented a range of educational and technological initiatives aimed at supporting the continent’s agricultural sector.

Polytechnic University, as the coordinator of the consortium of the Russian-African Network University (RAFU), participated in the thematic session «The contribution of Russian universities to ensuring food security in Africa.»

The continent has everything it needs to not only feed itself, but also contribute to global food security. In the next 10-20 years, African countries will be able to switch from growing crops for their own consumption to accumulating export potential. It is necessary to turn this potential into reality. And here we, the leading universities in Russia, are ready to share our technologies and best practices, said Maxim Zalyvsky, Head of the RAFU Project Office in Moscow.

Irina Abramova, Director of the Institute of Africa of the RAS, presented current projects and spoke about the Clean Water initiative, which focuses on providing access to water for agriculture.

The session was attended by Irina Timoshenkova, Deputy Director of the Institute of Biomedical Systems and Biotechnologies of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, as well as representatives of other leading Russian universities: Rosbiotech, Lobachevsky NNSU, Rudn, SPbASU and the NRU HSE, which presented their educational programs and scientific developments in the field of agrotechnology, veterinary medicine and biosafety.

Dmitry Arsenyev, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at SPbPU, stressed that access to innovation should be accompanied by the training of qualified personnel. Training programs for the agricultural sector in African countries are currently being actively implemented. The RAFU’s activities are aimed at uniting the efforts of the universities of our countries, launching joint educational programs that will accelerate the training of personnel for the African economy, he added.

Ethiopian students also got acquainted with the possibilities of admission to the Polytechnic University under the quota of the Government of the Russian Federation and with the help of the international Olympiad Open Doors: Russian Scholarship project, learned more about the main educational programs and pre-university training programs.

The conference became part of Russia’s systematic efforts to strengthen scientific, educational and technological partnerships with African countries in accordance with the goals of the Africa Agenda until 2063. Earlier, the RAFU delegation, led by the coordinator of the consortium, Peter Polytechnic and the Russian House in Addis Ababa, held a Day of Russian Education, as well as negotiations at the headquarters of the African Union on signing a cooperation agreement with the Pan-African University.