TAFSA Call for Degree Seeking Mobility, Cohort III

About TAFSA Program

Intra-Africa Mobility to Train Agribusiness and Food System Scientists for African Agriculture (TAFSA) is an Intra-Africa Academic mobility project funded by the European Union (EU). The program is run by 5 African Universities namely, Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique); Gulu University (Uganda); Makerere University (Uganda); University of Abomey Calavi (Benin), and University of Pretoria (South Africa). The goal of TAFSA project is to enhance synergetic cooperation amongst selected Agricultural Universities in Africa. Specifically, the project aims at supporting these African universities with research and training of skilful and competent professionals to contribute to the improvement of food systems, and agribusiness to respond to challenges associated with food insecurity and malnutrition, poverty and unemployment.

Through students training and staff mobility, TAFSA project is expected to contribute to:

1. Improving the skills and competencies of students to increase their employability;
2. Improving the quality of higher education in Africa and its relevance to Africa’s development vision; and
3. Strengthening partnerships and research collaboration amongst African Higher Education Institutions and research collaboration.

Through this project, a total of 40 fellowships are available for training (29 Masters and 11 PhD students). Of these, 13 (10 MSc, 3 PhD) are short-term credit seeking mobilities, while 27 (19 MSc, and 8 PhDs) are degree seeking mobility in the areas of agribusiness, consumer science, food security, nutrition, agricultural economics and agricultural policy. In the first and second round of calls, 8 fellows (4MSc and 5PhD) have been selected and awarded scholarships.

In this third call, the project aims at selecting 15 fellows (14MSc and 2 PhD) as detailed in the program mobility table.

Target beneficiaries
Beneficiaries of TAFSA scholarship are categorised into two target groups (TGs).

• TG-I include staff and students from TAFSA project hosting countries i.e., Benin, Mozambique, Uganda, and South Africa. To qualify for TG-1, a candidate must be either a former student (degree seeking) or current student (credit seeking) of a participating university.
• TG-II includes students from all other African countries, with priority being given to students from conflict-affected and disadvantaged countries, including Burundi, Cameroon, Liberia, Mali and Sierra Leone.
• Both TG-I and TG-II candidates are eligible to apply for either credit or degree seeking mobility.

Selection Criteria

For admission into the TAFSAMaster’s degree program, candidates must hold a Bachelor’s degree of at least  a second class or equivalent standing from an accredited and qualifying university. Students applying for a PhD degree must hold a Master’s degree from an accredited university in a field relevant to the area of PhD studies in the respective university. Further details on entry requirements into a specific course for study can be found on the host institution website or from the TAFSA project website https://www.tafsa.org Candidates are eligible to apply to more than one academic programme of their choice. Details of the programmes for mobility and numbers are summarised in the program summary table below.

Additionally, applicants must be willing to study in an institution outside of their home countries and must demonstrate proficiency in the language of instruction.

Female candidates and candidates with disabilities are highly encouraged to apply.

Selection of beneficiaries of the TAFSA Mobility Program will follow a 2- step process i.e. i) admission of the candidates to the host institution for the program applied for, and ii) selection for the scholarship award. Selection of applicants will be carried out by a designated TAFSA admission committee. This committee will evaluate the eligibility of both TG-I and TG-II candidates based on TAFSA’s selection criteria which include the student’s academic profile, professional background, and motivation. TAFSA selection criteria will ensure equitable access, inclusion, and will give opportunity to participants from all backgrounds, including those with fewer opportunities such as junior academic staff, professional athletes, disadvantaged people, people living with disabilities and women.

The assessment of eligibility of candidate will follow the following criteria:

1. Proof that the candidate is from an eligible country;
2. The candidate fulfils the Target Group requirements;
3. The application deadline is respected;
4. The right application form is used;
5. All required supporting documents are provided and are official and legible;
6. The application is in the language of instruction for that country (see mobility table below).

Language of instruction

The language of instruction varies with the TAFSA project hosting institution/country i.e.,

1. English  for Makerere University,  Gulu University and University of Pretoria
2. Portuguese and English for Eduardo Mondlane University
3. French for Abomey Calavi University

Language proficiency may be required for students to be considered for the training. For those students with language deficiency in the language of instruction, they will be offered a language course before the mobility at their home university (short-term mobility), and for long-term mobility students they will be offered a language course at the beginning of the mobility at the host university.

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