ENHANCING RURAL DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY THROUGH GRADUATE PROGRAMMES - AN ETHIOPIAN CASE STUDY

This paper will explore the implementation of an innovative masters' programme in rural development, a partnership between University College Cork and universities in Ethiopia, which is undergoing an expansion process. It will reflect on the experiences, difficulties, opportunities, and occasionally unexpected outcomes that such partnerships and initiatives present. The programme, begun as a partnership between University College Cork's Department of Food Business and Development and Mekelle University in Ethiopia, is run as a part-time degree, with periods of intensive teaching several times a year, teaching being shared by the two participating universities. It is attractive to both statutory and non-governmental organisations as throughout the programme, participants can continue to work in their own institutions, while much of the course- work involves reflection on the participants' own work. July 2009 saw the graduation of a second cohort of twenty students, and October 2009 will see two new cohorts commence, in Mekelle and Hawassa Universities. Two other universities in Ethiopia have expressed interest in the programme. The expansion to a second Ethiopian university at Hawassa contributes to a national strategy to enhance the capacities of experienced practitioners in the area of rural development across Ethiopia, a strategy determined by the Ethiopian government, and supported by organisations such as Irish Aid and the World Bank. The enhanced capacities of recent MSc graduates have been well recognised within their organisations, reflected in the continued and increased participation of these organisations in the programme. A critical component of the programme is the development of academic capacity within each of the partner universities, which has seen a parallel PhD programme emerge to create this capacity.