Collective Action Higher Education

Overall purpose

To establish a sustainable multi-regional network to co-develop and disseminate an open-source curriculum on Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS). 

Objectives

  1.  Establish governance and management structures for the NUS Education Network. 

  1. Select and engage up to 10 universities across the targeted regions. 

  1. Develop and validate a joint curriculum framework on NUS. 

  1. Produce and share modular, open-source teaching materials. 

  1. Strengthen capacity in curriculum innovation and digital pedagogy. 

Activities

  • Establish governance structures, select universities, and sign MoUs 

  • Conduct baseline survey on NUS education and research  

  • Design curriculum framework and identify modules 

  • Develop teaching materials (syllabi, case studies, multimedia) 

  • Peer review and expert validation of modules 

  • Pilot curriculum in selected universities (including scholarships, labs, lecturer training) 

  • Revise, finalize, and publish Open Source Curriculum online  

 

Strategic Elements 

  • Establish a global network of higher educators and experts on NUS, including scientists (e.g., CGIAR), private industry, and other stakeholders. This network will provide input, review, and advocacy for the curriculum. 

  • Set up a small working group with representatives from Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, and India. These members will also represent universities willing to pilot the course and form part of an expert steering/oversight committee. 

  • Organize thematic workshops for selected subjects as starting points for curriculum development. 

  • Ensure the curriculum covers the triple bottom line of NUS: Production (farming to processing), Environment (biodiversity, climate change, agroecology), and Health & Nutrition. Inclusiveness will be a cross-cutting theme. 

  • Adopt a phased approach to curriculum development—creating a few subjects at a time for piloting. 

  • Pilot implementation to include scholarships, access to laboratories, and lecturer training in participating universities.

 

Expected outputs 

  • Curriculum material for students and lecturers (including interactive material if funding permits). 

  • Piloted modules leading towards a complete open-source curriculum. 

  • Capacity building outputs such as lecturer training and scholarships for students. 

  • Eventually a full Bachelor’s and Master’s course on NUS. 

 

Collaborators 

  • RUFORUM member universities 

  • Lecturers, researchers, and partners from Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Progress  

Successful in fundraising from the International Foundation for Science (IFS, Sweden) for the organisation of a Residential Workshop on Transformative Teaching of Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS): Linking Accelerators, Business Support, and MSME Creation.  

Postings 

GFAIR website 

Forthcoming 

PAEPARD blog 

11-12 December 2025. Nairobi, Kenya. Residential Workshop on Transformative Teaching of Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS): Linking Accelerators, Business Support, and MSME Creation.

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