Paper long abstract:

Algeria has been constantly introducing reforms in the agricultural sector and this since its independence in 1962. Reforms that have affected all areas related to the agricultural sector; namely land (2010), veterinary medicine (1988), phytosanitary products (1989), seeds and plants, consumer protection (1989) and finally, a law on agricultural orientation in 2008 with the main objectives " to contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture which in turn will improve food security, and contribute to the development of the rural world and in general to contribute to the overall economic development effort”.

The ambition to establish a modern, efficient and effective agriculture is clear, but to do this special attention is needed to training and research (Articles 73 to 79). Reading and analyzing these articles allows us to say that the milestones of agricultural training in its broad sense have been laid out clearly where the farmer is put as the cornerstone of this approach. However, it is clear that the existing systems do not allow today to say that there is a match between training and employment (FAR, 2015).

To get a better understanding of the issue of matching supply (school) and demand (farmers and agro-food companies), several questions will have to be addressed and answered. The proposed presentation will focus on the following questions which when and if correctly addressed will offer the perspective for a better employability of young people in the agricultural and agro-food sectors.

• Is agricultural education in Algeria in line with the demand? Are the programs taught relevant enough to allow graduates to enter the world of work, particularly in the agricultural and agri-food sector?

• Are agricultural teaching methods sufficiently focused on the practical side to minimize the gap between the theoretical aspect of teaching and the purely practical aspect of agricultural and agro-food activity, with a capacity to develop solutions to problems encountered in the field during the exercise of his profession?

• Is there a relationship between higher agricultural education and vocational training which would favor the emergence and the constitution of homogeneous teams and speaking the same language in the field?

• Is the solution to be found on the side of programs or methods or both at the same time?

Paper long abstract:

After the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's new authorities moved fast to reshape the state envisaged by the revolution: just and democratic. Many international partners offered their advice and assistance to 'establish the rule of law and good governance'. There was an obvious instant need for 'knowledge development', many consultancy reports were written, and projects initiated. However, when the euphoria grew quiet, violent conflict increased, and the state, in 2014, split in two parts, the projects stopped. This raises the questions of how this kind of international assistance relates to the domestic production of knowledge, and whether there would be ways to make this relationship a more stable, productive and relevant one. In this paper, the authors review and reflect on the experience of an eight-year-long international academic collaboration in this field initiated by scholars at the universities of Benghazi and Leiden, Netherlands. While a major part of its funding has been international, Libyan academic expertise on law, governance and society has been the point of departure - and destination. To analyse problems of injustice and failing governance, knowledge from different disciplines - law, social sciences and humanities - needs to be integrated. To enhance actual application of such knowledge, the involvement of Libyan stakeholders is required. Such efforts have been made in the current research project 'The role of law in Libya's national reconciliation'. Researchers have focused on five main themes, i.e. national identity, national governance, decentralization, transitional justice, and security forces. To demonstrate the approaches, opportunities and constraints of this kind of knowledge production, the paper zooms in on a specific part of the research, i.e. on decentralisation. The paper concludes that for sustainable improvements in justice and state-building an effective communication within the triangle of national government, domestic knowledge institutions, and 'the international community' is highly desirable.

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Paper long abstract:

Since the 2011 revolution, Tunisia has had to face problems such as terrorism, unemployment, poverty ... despite very limited resources and a destabilized country.

To successfully complete this post-revolution phase, Tunisia has seen innovation as one of the keys to economic but also social success. As well as an important way to reduce the gap with developed countries.

The introduction of innovation into the economic circuit took shape first of all by the implementation by the state of a number of measures such as the Startup Act, a measure intended to encourage innovation. and unleash the full entrepreneurial potential in Tunisia.

This orientation towards innovation has enabled Tunisia today to position itself as one of the most active African start-up ecosystems with more than 12,000 companies active in ICTs.

It is necessary to note that in Africa, we are witnessing an extremely rapid evolution of FinTech as being the most wanted sector for African start-ups.

FinTech is a real issue for both African and European continents and in particular for Africa, which is considered the cradle of mobile payment, a solution to be adopted in countries where more than half of citizens do not have a bank account.

Such an acceleration of technology can only succeed with the establishment of the necessary skills, such as the training of more than 10,000 engineers per year in the fields of technology and digital.

Aware of the impact of technology in achieving a quality digital transition, CEED Tunisia in close collaboration with CEED Morocco has launched the FinTech Catalyst program which aims to bring together innovative start-ups in the field of Tics with large companies looking for digital solutions to cope with this technological acceleration that our country is experiencing.

Indeed, a Tunisian-Moroccan collaboration is a very interesting first step in the establishment of other exchanges of skills and experiences between the different countries of the African continent which unfortunately remains until today qualified as timid.

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Paper long abstract:

As transforming labour markets, shifting workforce demographics and the growing mobility of workers urge new skills and labour requirements, more than ever, there is a need for a global approach to skilled migration. While skilled migration is not a new phenomenon, it has not always been to the benefit of all involved parties, that is migrants, states, employers, training and education institutions and communities. In particular traditional approaches to skilled migration tend to benefit labour markets and employers in destination countries. Origin countries, in turn, often bear the costs associated with the emigration of skilled workers, which then might be missing in the local labour market. Against this backdrop, policymakers have increasingly turned to an all party-benefiting alternative: Skills Mobility Partnerships (SMPs). Rooted in SDG 4, 8 and 10 and expressly called for in Objective 18 of the Global Compact for Migration, SMPs offer an innovative tool that is centered around worker's skills formation and development, while placing special emphasis on multi-stakeholder collaboration.

When implemented effectively, SMPs can help destination countries meet skill shortages and labour market needs, improve migrant's skills sets, and thereby career prospects, and not least contribute to country of origins' development through a better trained workforce according to international qualification standards, remittances, capacity building and skills transfer. By design, SMPs consider participant's previously earned degrees, qualifications and competences at all skill levels. Through cost sharing and joint program conduct between stakeholders, the expenses for training local workers and future migrants are kept low. Having completed a training which meets the needs also of the local labor market, trained workers now have the choice of whether they will join the local labour market, or go for deployment abroad, where they will be placed in jobs corresponding to their skill level. Upon completion, migrants' skills and experiences are recognized, and accordingly certified, by all parties of the Partnership.

IOM will present case studies of successful skills mobility partnerships from Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt in this panel to illustrate how knowledge development in North Africa can be innovated and done in true partnership between countries of origin and countries of destination.

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Paper long abstract:

Africa has experienced a considerable revival of interest in recent years. One cannot imagine the number of people and institutions reorienting their strategy towards the establishment of means for the mobilization of both material and human resources towards Africa.

This mobilization is justified in fact by the desire to facilitate their development and their deployment in the world. The reason is indeed that it is in Africa that a certain number of resource-generating activities will potentially develop, but also because it is in this space or in these spaces that the added value could be concentrated.

Our space Africa thus becomes a place of important issues without necessarily the people and other institutions on site always taking the measure and decides to put in place the tools necessary for this purpose.

However, some organizations have become aware of it and institutions compete in policies and means to make this period of history a multifaceted opportunity for the development in Africa of new instruments with a view to a better redistribution of knowledge throughout the world and in particular to make Africa a new competitive space in which it would be more than in the past an actor and no longer simply a stake.

For example, at the regional level alongside the African Union and other institutions such as the African Development Bank and other subregional institutions such as UEMOA, ECOWAS, COMESA or the 'CEMAC have developed new strategies aimed in particular at strengthening Africa's capacities thanks to knowledge finance.

The latter believes that Africa is not lacking in talent, and fears that the brain drain to Western research centers will worsen.

He is therefore convinced that "collaboration between countries around joint projects gives more funding opportunities through the National Research Councils.

"The continent, it should be pointed out, only concentrates 2% of research results and only 1% of capacity worldwide, according to Bassirou Bonfoh, director general of the Swiss Center for Scientific Research in Côte d'Ivoire (CSRS) and director of the Afrique One Consortium which is an African scientific partnership for excellence in intervention research.

Anna Maria Oltorp, executive director of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), one of the largest research funders in Africa, finds the establishment of granting councils encouraging research in most countries of the continent. "This sector can be an important source in terms of research, in order to obtain additional resources, including internationally," she says. "Because research results must benefit companies".

The latter even suggests that a percentage of the profits from foreign direct investment be devoted to funding research.

While it is true that new cooperative funding mechanisms exist - like the Scientific Research Granting Councils Initiative, scientists urge researchers, especially younger ones, to be innovative. This is the best approach, they say, for attracting funding through cooperation. “Donors are more and more interested in funding ideas that have merit, that have added value. Researchers must therefore be ambitious, think bigger by developing new ideas, innovative subjects”, insists Aschalew Tigabu. However, these experts believe that the prerequisite for the success of all these avenues remains the commitment of the various African states to finance their researchers. For Soukèye Dia Tine, this can be done through funds dedicated to research. But also through the promotion of already existing research results. An appeal welcomed by the inventors because, one of their spokespeople, Coulibaly Pierre Djibril, president of the Association of Inventors and Innovators of Côte d'Ivoire, even offers a "one-stop shop" for promoting inventions and research results in all African countries. For him, such an initiative would have the double advantage of avoiding the dispersion of public funds across various ministries, and of favoring a transformation of research results into market products capable of impacting African economies. In short, the African strategy for funding research is plural; the challenge today is to define a common integrated strategy capable of supporting the necessary developments currently underway on the continent.

Paper long abstract:

"How can we achieve an inclusive and sustainable development on the African continent which will result in a much-needed massive job creation, a significant poverty reduction, a social cohesion and ultimately peace? This required strategy will necessarily be based on the industrialization of Africa, which will allow it to transform its raw materials on the continent. This added value will bring more wealth, more jobs and will ultimately give Africans more confidence, which in turn will have a positive impact on the intra-African trade.

However, a major pre-requisite to this strategy of industrialization is access to and the mastery of knowledge and know-how. In this chapter, the Diaspora, which usually is motivated to help their countries of birth, can play a key role.

The concept of industrialization will be introduced in my presentation will include different aspects of our modern economy including manufacturing, food, mining industry but also the service industry such as telecommunication, e-commerce, banking and tourism. In summary, the goal of the proposed strategy is to achieve a sustainable, inclusive, robust and resilient economy. This economic growth will create local wealth and jobs and reduce poverty.

The presentation will examine the challenges faced by Africans to achieve the new growth regime leading to the emergence in Africa! As an illustration, the Algerian version of this new growth paradigm will be presented, a model that can be generalized to other countries on the continent. In conclusion, it is clear that the knowledge-based economy will be at the heart of this new paradigm for Algeria and for Africa.

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Paper long abstract:

Africa has human wealth and major natural assets that could enable it to face the challenges and issues that arise such as: globalization, global warming and its consequences, the SDGs, population growth, etc.….

Indeed, Africa is both a continent and islands which are surrounded by several marine areas: the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. In addition, its long geological history has been marked by several orogenies (Precambrian, Hercynian and Alpine) and climate changes. In addition, it has rock formations ranging in age from the Precambrian to the Quaternary, as well as significant energy and mineral resources.

The geosciences therefore appear to be the battle horse for the creation of human capital and the establishment of a blue economy and a green economy which will contribute to the emergence of African leadership. Indeed, in addition to their scientific interest for the knowledge of our Earth and the understanding of the phenomena which presided over its history, the geosciences have an inescapable societal role. They have direct applications in:

- the exploration, exploitation and development of natural resources (water, ore, and useful substance, hydrocarbons, gas, etc.),

- the feasibility and impact study of engineering projects and development projects in land and sea,

- the study of the quality of the environment and its protection,

- the study and management of natural risks: climate change, floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis, landslides, etc….

In addition, the geologist has become a leading actor in socio-economic development, his role has widened all the more as all the continental, coastal and marine areas as well as their subsoil are coveted. Thus, it can intervene in teaching, research, and all fields of application of geology. And as a result, opportunities have become numerous and diversified in several sectors.

The promotion of geosciences therefore arises acutely in Africa, where the number of students in this discipline remains very low and where its education is only provided in about a hundred faculties and other higher institutions. In addition to the preservation and enhancement of natural capital, it will help to integrate young people into the job market. Therefore, and in order to contribute to the realization of the AU Agenda 2063, it is essential to strengthen the links within the AU and to create bridges between African universities in order to capitalize the know-how and the human and material resources of several countries to put in place:

- adequate training to prepare senior technicians, engineers, and university geologists,

- relevant and unifying programs for the strengthening of scientific research and innovation in fields common to several African states.

This presentation aims to propose the programs and mechanisms to be implemented in the fields of training and scientific research in Geosciences within the framework of intra-African cooperation. It will also indicate the levers for the development of a balanced cooperation between African consortia and scientific teams of other states around the world based on the Moroccan experience in international cooperation in the field of geosciences.

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Paper long abstract:

Morocco boasts a long history of academic education and research, with institutions such as the Qarawiyyin University in Fez founded by Fatima al-Fihri in 859, and scholars such as the historian and sociologists Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406). These historical highlights figure prominently in the reconstruction of higher learning in Morocco after regained independence in 1956. The Protectorate authorities (1912-1956) restructured part of the educational system according to French and Spanish models. French and Spanish students, and some local young men learned new approaches to history and philosophy and to the understanding of contemporary society, culture, politics, economics, and law. These approaches were closely linked to the colonialist governance of Morocco and the project of “modernisation” together with reviving Moroccan “tradition.”

After independence in 1956 Moroccan and some French scholars strived towards decolonising this colonial knowledge. They criticised anthropology and preferred to call themselves “sociologists”, taking Ibn Khaldun as model. Many scholars looked towards leftist ideas for directions to understand the world and to reform Morocco into a new nation offersing social justice. France remained important as a cultural and linguistic model. At the same time nationalists declared themselves strongly in favour of Arabisation and a search for Islamic models. From the 1970s American academia gradually gained a foothold in Morocco through research projects and the distribution of scholarships to talented Moroccan scholars.

From the 1990s onwards civil society and academic life became more liberal, after decades of political repression of “critical” disciplines such as sociology and philosophy. Some scholars started to identify themselves as “anthropologists”, relating their work to foreign and national debates. Researchers in the humanities played an important role in the creation of a civil society by cultural critique. Nowadays, Morocco has a sizable community of scholars who contribute to public debates, occasionally under strained circumstances. Some of these intellectuals participate in international academia as well. A few members of the first generation of scholars after independence are still active, while their students who entered academia in the 1960s and 1970s are now retiring from their teaching positions. A new generation of post-colonial scholars is taking over, who next to Arabic and French also increasingly publish their contributions in English.

This paper offers an overview of the genesis of the humanities, with special attention to anthropology, in Morocco since independence. The focus is on the adoption by local scholars of European and American models to understand Moroccan society and culture. Through research and teaching these scholars educate new generations of Moroccan citizens, contribute to national and international academia, and to public debates which form part of an emerging civil society. It is a plea to take their work seriously as scholarship and as acts of citizenship.