Welcome the Postgraduate School of Agriculture & Rural Development

The Postgraduate School of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pretoria is currently in its 14th year. The growth of the School has been phenomenal and it can be stated that, with an enrolment of more than 150 students, it is currently the single largest graduate training facility in agricultural and rural development in southern Africa. From its inception, the school focused on the new requirements for successful and sustainable agriculture and rural development in southern Africa and elsewhere in the world. Poverty is one of the major problems facing southern Africa. In South Africa for instance, poverty is more pervasive in rural areas particularly in the former homelands. The majority (65% of the poor are found in rural areas and 78% of those likely to be chronically poor are also in rural areas.

These figures are surprising given the perceived national self-sufficiency and even a surplus in basic foodstuffs. One of the reasons for this situation is that agricultural research aimed at the large-scale commercial sector has been well developed and supported in South Africa. However, the small-scale farming sector in which the majority of the farmers are found has largely been ignored.

The small-scale farming has to be studied in view of its particular needs and social complexities. People involved in research and education initiatives therefore have to understand the needs of the community to accept and adopt to change. There is a great need to challenge the thinking in South Africa and the rest of Africa that science and technology for rural development is inferior to science and technology in an industrialised economy. It is essential that architects, engineers, building scientists; geneticists, agronomists, lawyers and other mainstream professionals should apply their minds to the problems facing rural people and their livelihood systems and environment. These people must be innovative, prepared to learn from global experience, eager to promote and implement more effective and efficient methods, able to improve standard methods, products and resources, and have a thorough understanding of the large as well as the small-scale farming sectors. The focus of the School is therefore on the development and training of subject matter specialists in agricultural economics, animal production, plant production, protection and quarantine, food processing, sustainable ecological management, sustainable insect management, land development and land-use planning and extension agents with the aim of creating strategic leadership and management for the country as well as southern Africa region.

The School's programs are therefore structured to address this need. The response to these programmes was overwhelming and evident in the fact that in less than ten years since its establishment, the School grew into the largest postgraduate facility in agriculture and rural development education in southern Africa. In 1999 the School provided approximately one third of all the postgraduate students in the Faculty. This figure decreased in 2000 due to the amalgamation of the two Faculties into the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. In 2001 there were 104 master's and 56 honours, which made the contribution of the School to the Faculty output significant. Currently there are more than 150 postgraduate students registered for different specialisations in the School.

One of the major commitments of the School is the collaboration with numerous national and international organisations. The most significant of these is its appointment by the WK Kellogg Foundation as the Regional Co-ordinating Intermediary with the responsibility to manage the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). This programme that aims to facilitate the development of holistic, integrative approaches to building the capacities of rural communities to drive their own social and economic development would enable the communities to have better economic opportunities, better skills and a greater civic voice to influence policy.