How do agricultural graduates actively shape the transformation of rural areas and how are they prepared for this role? This question is at the heart of the team of the research project Roots and Routes: Knowledge and Career Trajectories of Kenyan and Tanzanian Agriculture Graduates. Embedded in the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) “Future Rural Africa”, the team examines how university education, political frameworks, and institutional realities shape the professional practice and impact of agricultural graduates in Kenya and Tanzania. Insights into three months of research.
Research locations in Tanzania and Kenya (own illustration, source: mapchart.net)
The project team consists of researchers from IDOS (including six participants of the 60th PGP course) as well as scholars from Kenya and Tanzania. The data collection took place over three months in Kenya and Tanzania, in a total of ten regions: Nairobi, Kisumu, Siaya, Trans Nzoia, and Narok in Kenya; Morogoro, Mbeya, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, and Dodoma in Tanzania. During this time, we conducted four inception workshops and two restitution workshops, organised a total of 51 focus group discussions, and interviewed 65 agricultural experts. A total of 305 agricultural graduates took part in our quantitative online survey.
Insights through Dialogue: Restitution Workshops in Dodoma and Nairobi
Impressions from our restitution workshop in Nairobi
A particular highlight of our research were the restitution workshops held in Dodoma (25 April 2025) and Nairobi (29 April 2025), which were organised in close cooperation with the CRC “Future Rural Africa”.
With the participation of IDOS Director Prof. Anna-Katharina Hornidge and Head of the PGP Dr Simone Christ, the workshops gained additional support and visibility. The events were jointly conducted by the CRC subprojects “Science Futures” (to which our research is affiliated), “Violent Futures”, and “Green Futures”. Participants included graduates and interview partners as well as representatives from ministries, universities, and research institutions.
The Roots and Routes research team with Prof Dr Anna-Katharina Hornidge and Dr Simone Christ during the restitution workshop
While the focus group discussions in the inception workshops served to gain a broader understanding of agricultural education and its links to rural development – and thus formed a key foundation for our research – the restitution workshops aimed to jointly discuss, validate, and further develop initial findings together with interview partners and decision-makers.
In a World Café format, intensive small-group discussions were held on the topics ‘The Future of Universities’, ‘Knowledge Transfer’, and ‘Labour Market Entry and Self-employment’. The workshops concluded with panel discussions involving representatives from various ministries, universities, and research institutions on concrete possibilities for implementation. In addition to sharpening our understanding, the workshops actively enhanced the relevance and policy connectivity of our research.
Next Steps
We are currently working on the final analysis of our results. Our final presentation and the publication of the final report will take place at the end of May. In addition, several academic publications are planned for the remainder of the year, with the aim of making our findings widely accessible and contributing to ongoing debates on agricultural higher education and rural development.
1 comment