TCoEFS Commences Four-Day Capacity Building Workshop at Miango Rest Home

TETFund Centre of Excellence in Food Security (TCoEFS) Commences Four-Day Capacity Building Workshop at Miango Rest Home, Jos

The TETFund Centre of Excellence in Food Security (TCoEFS), University of Jos, has commenced a Four-Day Capacity Building Workshop themed "Repositioning TCoEFS for Teaching, Research, Innovation Excellence, and Institutional Sustainability." The event, which runs from 22nd to 25th September 2025 at Miango Rest Home, Jos, Plateau State, brings together scientific team members, administrative staff, resource persons, and representatives from TETFund to strengthen the Centre's institutional capacity and reposition it for greater impact.

The opening ceremony was graced by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jos, Professor Tanko Ishaya, who commended the Centre's leadership for organizing the training at such a strategic moment in its development. He noted that at four years and six months into its establishment, the Centre stands at a defining phase where performance, innovation, and measurable impact must take priority.

Professor Ishaya underscored that the TETFund Centres of Excellence initiative is performance-based, designed to deliver tangible outcomes in teaching, research, innovation, and industry engagement. He therefore charged participants to seize the opportunity of the workshop to realign their programmes with TETFund's Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs), strengthen teamwork, and develop sustainable strategies for visibility and institutional growth.

In his welcome address, the Director of the Centre, Professor Dauda Bitrus Bawa, expressed gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor for his consistent support and for personally attending the opening ceremony. He explained that the workshop was conceived as a strategic realignment platform to refocus the Centre's goals and equip its staff with the skills and renewed vision required to deliver on its mandate.

Professor Bawa acknowledged the presence of the resource persons, Professor Olukayode Akinyemi, former Director of CEADESE and current Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), and Professor Adeboye O. Fafiolu, current Director of CEADESE, FUNAAB, both of whom brought invaluable expertise from their successful experience managing Centres of Excellence. He also appreciated the TETFund Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) representative, Dr. Comfort Ochepo, for her continued guidance and support.

Resource person Professor Adeboye O. Fafiolu presented actionable recommendations for income generation and sustainability, including the immediate establishment of greenhouse farming and poultry projects, launch of short professional courses, and branding initiatives to enhance visibility. He also emphasized the need for the Centre to fast-track the design of multidisciplinary postgraduate programmes in areas such as Smart Agriculture, Innovative Food Systems, and Climate-Smart Agribusiness.

The first day's technical sessions focused on the foundations of Centre-based excellence, featuring lectures and discussions on "Fundamentals of a Centre of Excellence," "Institutionalizing the TCoEFS," and "Designing Centre-Based Postgraduate Programmes." Participants were reoriented on the importance of performance-linked funding and the need to develop practical models for teaching, research, and innovation.

The first day concluded with renewed enthusiasm among participants, who described the sessions as eye-opening and transformational. The workshop continues with field visits and strategy sessions in the days ahead.