University-induced innovations for nurturing farm based micro-enterprises: Experiences from engaging with refugee hosting contexts
| dc.contributor.author | Odongo, W. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Elolu, S. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Akite, I. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ongeng, D. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kalule, S.W. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-07-30T10:34:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-07-30T10:34:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023-03 | |
| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT The linear approach of technology transfer is widely criticized for being non-responsive to the development needs of the marginalized and vulnerable communities. As such, universities have been urged to play an active role, within their community engagement mandate, in facilitating inclusive innovation. Accordingly, this papers uses experiences gained while facilitating the development of farm based micro-enterprises in refugee and host communities of West Nile in Uganda to show how university community engagement can be harnessed to facilitate an inclusive innovation system. An analysis in this paper reveals that the interface structures of community engagement models namely: The Student-Centered Outreach and the Student Enterprise Scheme with supervision from faculty-staff, and together with community leadership, facilitate successful university-community interactions, learning and innovation. We highlight that stimulating sustainable innovations in marginalized communities is dependent on how the interventions are packaged. Further, active engagement of marginalized communities in decision-making does not only give beneficiaries opportunity to contribute and own the development process but also enables the University to learn community challenges for appropriate response. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | The authors thankfully acknowledge the funding from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO] that facilitated the implementation of the project on Promoting farm based micro-enterprises among the refugees and host communities of Arua and Adjumani Districts, West Nile region in Uganda. We also acknowledge the support from the RUFORUM project titled “Transforming African Agricultural Universities to meaningfully contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development [TAGDev]”, funded by the Mastercard Foundation whose financial support enabled the development of this article. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Odongo, W., Elolu, S., Akite, I., & Kalule, S. W. (2023). University-induced innovations for nurturing farm based micro-enterprises: Experiences from engaging with refugee hosting contexts. African Journal of Rural Development, 8(1), 1-17. | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2415-2838 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14270/566 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | African Journal of Rural Development, | |
| dc.subject | Inclusive innovation system | |
| dc.subject | innovations | |
| dc.subject | interactive learning | |
| dc.subject | marginalized communities | |
| dc.subject | University community engagement | |
| dc.title | University-induced innovations for nurturing farm based micro-enterprises: Experiences from engaging with refugee hosting contexts | |
| dc.type | Article |