Introduction


 The history of engineering can be roughly divided into four overlapping phases, each
marked by a revolution:
 Pre-scientific revolution: The prehistory of modern engineering features ancient master
builders and Renaissance engineers such as Leonardo da Vinci.
 Areas of interest: invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics,
engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography.
 Industrial revolution: From the eighteenth through early nineteenth century, civil and
mechanical engineers changed from practical artists to scientific professionals.
 Second industrial revolution: In the century before World War II, chemical, electrical, and
other science-based engineering branches developed electricity, telecommunications, cars,
airplanes, and mass production.
 Information revolution: As engineering science matured after the war, microelectronics,
computers, and telecommunications jointly produced information technology.
 Engineering before the Scientific Revolution
 The forerunners of engineers, practical artists and craftsmen, proceeded
mainly by trial and error.


 Tinkering (playing about with/repairing/cut-try-discard) combined with
imagination produced many marvelous devices.
 monuments cannot fail to incite admiration (Fort Jesus (1593-1595,
Mombasa; Great wall of China -220BC).
 
 The admiration is embodied in the name “engineer” itself.
 Engineer originated in the eleventh century from the Latin ingeniator, meaning
one with ingenium, the ingenious (resourceful, clever, imaginative, creative) one.
 builders of ingenious fortifications
 makers of ingenious devices,
 Related to notion of ingenuity
 Had been captured in the old meaning of “engine” until the word was taken
over by steam engines and its like.
 Leonardo da Vinci bore the official title of Ingegnere Generale. His notebooks
reveal that some Renaissance engineers began to ask systematically what works
and why.
 
 Engineering the Industrial Revolution
 The first phase of modern engineering emerged in the Scientific Revolution.
 Galileo’s (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642)
 Sought systematic explanations
 adopted a scientific approach to practical problems,
 Was a the beginning of
 structural analysis,
 mathematical representation
 design of building structures.
 Galileo was an Italian polymath: astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher,
and mathematician.
 This phase of engineering lasted through the First Industrial Revolution, when
 machines, increasingly powered by steam engines, started to replace muscles in
most production.
 traditional artisans transformed themselves to modern professionals.

 The French spearheaded civil engineering with emphasis on mathematics and
 developed university engineering education under the sponsorship of their
government.
 The British, pioneered mechanical engineering and autonomous professional
societies under the laissez-faire attitude of their government.
 laissez-faire: a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs
beyond the minimum necessary
 Gradually, practical thinking became scientific in addition to intuitive,
 engineers developed mathematical analysis and controlled experiments.
 Technical training shifted from apprenticeship to university education.
 Information flowed more quickly in
 organized meetings
 journal publications as professional societies emerged.
 Engineering the second industrial revolution
 Before world war II

 The second industrial revolution, symbolized by the advent of electricity
and mass production, was driven by many branches of engineering
 Chemical and electrical engineering developed in close collaboration with
chemistry and physics and played vital roles in the rise of chemical,
electrical, and telecommunication industries.
 Marine engineers tamed the peril of ocean exploration.
 Aeronautic engineers turned the ancient dream of flight into a travel
convenience for ordinary people.
 Control engineers accelerated the pace of automation.
 Industrial engineers designed and managed mass production and
distribution systems.

 College engineering curricula were well established and graduate schools
appeared.
 Workshops turned into to laboratories,
 tinkering became industrial research,
 individual inventions were organized into systematic innovations.
 Engineering the information age
 After world war II

 Research and development boomed in all fields of science and technology
 partly because of the Cold War and the Sputnik effect.
 Sputnik: First artificial satellite: Made by Russia (1957)
 THERE WAS explosion of engineering research, which used to lagged
behind natural science
 Engineering was also stimulated by new technologies, notably
 aerospace,
 microelectronics,
 computers,
 novel means of telecommunications from the Internet to cell phones.
 
 Turbojet and rocket engines propelled aeronautic engineering into
unprecedented height and spawned astronautic engineering.
 Utilization of atomic and nuclear power brought nuclear engineering.
 Material Science brought out superior engineering materials
 microelectronics, telecommunications, and computer engineering joined
force to precipitate the information revolution in which intellectual
chores are increasingly alleviated by machines.
 
 To lead the progress of these sophisticated technologies, engineers have
remade themselves by reforming educational programs and expanding
research efforts.
 Intensive engineering research produced not only new technologies but
also bodies of powerful systematic knowledge
 the engineering sciences and systems theories in information, computer,
control, and communications.
 
 Engineering developed extensive theories of its own and firmly
established itself as a science of creating, explaining, and utilizing
manmade systems
 This led to maturation of graduate engineering education and the rise of
large-scale research and development organized on the national level.
 physical sciences – physics and chemistry – have contributed most to
technology.
 Biology has been introduced=biological engineering (Biosystems
Engineerong)
 Nanotechnology and Biology: Biotechnology
 The cooperation and convergence of traditional intellectual disciplines
in the development of new technology is the trend of the future.
 Evolution to Agricultural and
Biosystems Engineering

 According to D. Briassoulis1, P. Panagakis1, E. Nikopoulos1 & F. Ayuga (2008).
 In the 90s in EUrope:
 Agricultural Engineering University studies faced dramatic problems
 decrease of student enrolment,
 reduced prestige,
 declining funding, etc
 Considered the definition of Agricultural Engineering
 an application-based discipline related to the production and processing of goods of
biological origin from the field and the farm to the consumer (i.e. plant and animal
production, postharvest technology, process engineering, etc.)
 related to the protection of the natural environment and the preservation of the natural
resources (i.e. soil conservation, rational water management, air pollution control, waste
management, preservation of
natural habitats, etc.)
 
 Evolving into: Biosystems Engineering field,
 A science-based engineering discipline that integrates engineering science and
design with applied biological, environmental and agricultural sciences
 broadenings the area of application of Engineering sciences to the biological
sciences in general, including the agricultural sciences.
 Agricultural Engineering applies Engineering sciences to agricultural applications,
 Biosystems Engineering, extends this application of Engineering
Sciences to all living organisms applications, including agriculture.
 can also be involved in the expanding new areas of
 biomaterials, bio-fuels, biomechatronics, etc.,
 in the assessment of food traceability, quality and safety and
 in the design of environmentally friendly and sustainable systems.
Would not concern itself with human medical applications
 
 Students enrolling in Agricultural Engineering reduced drastically
 There was increased demand for interphase between Biology and Engineering.
 Defined area of Interest as Biological Engineering
 Efforts were made to shift from Agr. Eng to Biology Based Engineering
 Most Agricultural Engineering Departments in USA and Canada
added a ‘bio’ modifier term (i.e. Bio-systems, Bio-logical, Bio-resources, Bio-engineering,
etc.) in the names of Departments:
 Aligned academic curricula to these changes and in Bio-based Engineering Departments.
 With these changes: Enrolment in universities in USA & Canada increased Biological
Engineering
 American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) and Canadian Society of Agricultural
Engineers (CSAE) changed to ASABE and CSBE (BioEngineering)
 
 In Europe:
 Thematic Network on Education and Research in Biosystems Engineering
in Europe (ERABEE-TN) was established.
 Aimed at addressing the challenges of Agricultural Engineering across
Europe
 
 Employment opportunities are currently available in areas (i.e. discipline of
Agricultural Engineering) such as
 providing services in building analysis,
 design and construction (i.e. livestock structures, greenhouses, storage structures, etc.),
 facility planning, and manure management,
 offer of expertise to the power and machinery industry,
 conservation of water and soil resources,
 develop plants and equipment for post-harvest treatment and food processing,
 propose planning of rural land and green areas,
 restoration and reuse of historical rural buildings,
 environmental impact assessment,
 safety and health at work,
 investigation of accidents,
 design and evaluation of new products
 
 The major areas of expertise of Biosystems Engineering are the following [14]:
 (1) Biological Engineering,
 (2) Natural Resources/Soil & Water,
 (3) Machine and Power Systems,
 (4) Information & Electrical Technologies,
 (5) Structures & Environment / Controlled Environment,
 (6) Aquacultural Engineering,
 (7) Bioprocess Engineering,
 (8) Environmental Quality and
 (9) Energy Systems Engineering.
 Africa

 Various uinversities chart their way forward
 Governments and universities do not seem to consult.
 Thriving industries: banking, finance, health and transportation
 Driven by dramatic and massive penetration of ICT in all sectors.
Rural and resource-poor farmers that
 are still toiling the land and processing their harvest with the same hand tools and
methods
 are able to communicate and also receive and transfer money anytime
anywhere instantaneously using mobile phones without bank account
 Can access market information in real time about production inputs and demand for
their products
 Live in communities still lack access to safe portable water and good sanitation
 
 In addition these farmers remain isolated by
 several kilometres away from good road networks,
 the number of airlines, passengers, airports and flights to and fro major African
cities which has skyrocketed during the past decade.
 These farmers:
 Not able to meet medical, educational expenses
 Families live in rural areas with little amenities
 Poverty is rampant

 
 agriculture and related activities still dominate the economies of African
countries
 It is the dominant and primary source of livelihood
 agriculture remains the least developed and often neglected sector of the
economy.
 communication, transport and healthcare are rapidly transforming the
landscape of the continent
 potential of agriculture as the engine for job and wealth creation remains
largely locked
 It is the industry for the poor
 High potential lands are being converted to Megacities
 
 Africa still remains top on the list of major indices of under
development such as
 widespread poverty,
 food insecurity,
 poor health and sanitation,
 high infant and maternal mortality,
 low human development index.
 Transforming African agriculture for socio-economic development


 Transformation of agriculture into an engine for inclusive and sustainable
economic growth is the key to breaking the vicious cycle of poverty, deprivation
and underdevelopment in Africa

 AfricA Union:
 Launched Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Plan (CAADP)
Every country is required to commit 10% of National budget to Agriculture.
 Several countries in Asia and Middle East have acquired tracts of land in Africa to
produce food
 Africa needs to raise agromaterial
 to feed her people, as well as feed other nations.
 to meet global insatiable demands for food, feed and fuel
 
 agricultural engineering and related technologies are necessary to
 cultivate these large expanses of land,
 handle the products from farm to fork,
 adding value along the chain.
 Most small scale farmers are feeding Africa
 They lack access to innovative technologies needed to enhance
their productivity and yields
 
 There is rapid urbanisation of Africa
 This is coupled with ageing of farmers in rural areas
 Youths experience drudgery
 Rapid Mechanisation is necessary to
 Reduce drudgery on the aged, youth and women
 Promote a new knowledge-intensive and productive agriculture
 Meet the rising demand for food and fibre
 African Governments, donors and policy makers have been relactant to embrace, support
and promote agricultural mechanisation
 Improve land and labour productivity
 Increase job availability at farm level
 
 Africa has
 sufficient uncultivated agricultural land and other natural resources to adequately feed itself and the rest of the
world.
 60% of the world uncultivated agricultural land
 Economy expected to grow at 7% in the next two decades.
 In some countries only 60% of arable land is under production
 It is necessary to
 improve yields of crop and livestock
 enhance the productivity of labour and other inputs are crucial

 This is necessary to meet the food and raw material demands of a young and growing population in
Africa
 Engineers have enormous challenges
 to improve productivity and resource use efficiency at all stages of the food chain
 
 Key and urgent challenges (and opportunities) in African agriculture

1. Mechanising agriculture to reduce drudgery and enhance productivity

2. reducing the high incidence of postharvest food losses
3. promoting value addition through preservation and agro-processing
 Agricultural engineers are best equipped to lead this transformation
process.
 
 Successful development in China, Brazil, India, and South Africa (BRICS)
 Was preceded by successful transformation of agriculture and the food system
 Provided opportunities for coexistence between large, medium and small scale Agriculture
 Africa is the only region in the world that has not experienced its own Green
Revolution
 This is necessary to usher in a new and sustainable agriculture for systemic economic
development
 Green Revolution Transformed Europe and America, and Parts of Asia, New Zealand
and Australia.
 Emerging economies continue to take advantage of Green Revolution
 Brics, the Asian Tigers, etc.

 
 Job creation and pathway for long-term economic development depends on
 the use of high-yielding crop varieties,
 irrigation and mechanisation,
 farmer-friendly policies to support access to inputs and markets.
 Need to take cognizance of influence of developmental projects on
environment
 Use of chemicals, soil degradation, aquifer contamination
 Agriculture and our food system must become more sustainable
to meet the food and fibre needs of current and future generations.
 This is a challenge for agricultural engineering in Africa and elsewhere around the
world
 
 AfroAgEng – the network of agricultural and biosystems engineers in
Africa
 Agricultural engineering
 well established academic discipline and engineering profession
 has contributed to global advances in producing safe, quality and nutritious
food and industrial agro-industrial raw materials
 Advances in training and the successful transformation from Agric. Eng to
Biosystems or Biological Engineering contribute will contribute to success in
green revolution
 play crucial roles in addressing both the technological obstacles and emerging
challenges facing global agriculture and environment
 
 Success requires the
 development of highly skilled human resources
 relevant scientific and engineering knowledge,
 integrative skills and managerial expertise
 Such skilled resource person will work and lead at all levels in the
agricultural value chain
 
 There is need for concerted efforts to address
 fundamental changes required to transform and improve the productivity
and output of African agriculture
 Mechanisation of operations, irrigation, tillage, postharvest technology and
agro-processing
 recent advances in knowledge-intensive agriculture such as
 precision farming,
 conservation tillage,
 controlled environment agriculture
 novel preservation and agro-processing of food and industrial raw materials.
 
 Green Revolutions: characterised by massive expansion of
agricultural land and input intensification.
 not sustainable in light of dwindling natural resources and the negative
environmental impacts
 new knowledge and partnerships (both local, regional and global) are required
to adequately address these new and emerging ‘sustainability’ challenges
facing Africa’s Green Revolution and global agriculture
 
 Need for
 human capacity development,
 technological innovation, dissemination and application
 formulation of evidence-based policy and investment strategies
African Professional Associations
African Crop Science Society (http://www.acss.ws),
African Association of Agricultural Economists (http://www.aaae-africa.org), African
Association for Public Administration and Management (http://www.aapam.org),
African Association of Physiological Sciences (http://www.aapsnet.org),
Federation of African Societies of Chemistry (http://www.faschem.org),
African Association of Political Science (http://www.apsanet.org/content_8484.cfm),
African Mathematical Union (http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/AMU).
 
 The oldest agricultural engineering professional society, the American
Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ASABE) was formed
in 1907 (http://www.asabe.org)
 The global umbrella organisation for the agricultural engineering
profession, the International Commission of Agricultural and
Biosystems Engineers (CIGR) was formed in 1930
(http://www.cigr.org).
 
 In 2011, the CIGR had active regional members from
all continents except Africa

 European Society of Agricultural Engineers http://www.eurageng.eu),

 Asian Association of Agricultural Engineers (http://www.aaae.org.cn)
 Euro Asian Association of Agricultural Engineers,
 Latin American and Caribbean Association of Agricultural Engineering
(http://www.aliaweb.org),
 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
 India has had very strong advocacy on establishing effective machinery centres
 This has led to small holder agricultural machines made at small-holder levels.
 
 Agricultural engineers in Africa and others around the world
interested in Africa’s economic development
 work closely to
 develop a long-term strategy and agenda to promote education, research and practice of
agricultural engineering for agricultural transformation and overall economic
development in Africa
 7th CIGR International Technical Symposium ‘Innovating the Food Value Chain’ was held in South
Africa 25-29 November, 2012

 a Special Forum on
“The Future of Agricultural Engineering Education and Profession in Africa
The objectives of this forum are to
 generate widespread consensus and support for a network of agricultural engineers in Africa
 inaugurate the network as the association of agricultural and biosystems engineers in Africa.
 
 Agricultural productivity is lowest in Africa
 Has the highest incidence of food insecurity
 Has the highest level of economic underdevelopment
 There is need to increase agricultural productivity
 Also total production of food
 To feed the nations
 To spur socio-economic development
 Challenges and Success of
Agricultural Engineering in

Africa
 Agric Engineering in Africa: Dates back to early civilization:
 In Egypt, irrigation was noted very early along the Nile
 It is likely to have been document
 Later, it was followed by tractorisation, what people cpnsidered
mechanization
 The identity problem of tractorisation (discs and ploughs) as Agric. Eng
led to missing on the benefits of Agricultural Engineering
 
 The traditional core pillars of agricultural engineering were
 agricultural machinery and farm power,
 soil and water engineering,
 post harvest technologies, and
 Structures
 the environment.

 Change of names to encompass biology based engineering

 
 In Africa
 what advances and inroads have agricultural engineers and the
profession made to date?
Some problems
 recognition as a profession,
 lack of accreditation,
 poor employment and career development prospects for the agricultural
engineers,
 lack of support to agricultural engineering degree programmes
 competition from more visible engineering programmes,
 slow responsiveness to changes in society and industry.
 
 Advances include
 professional recognition,
 widening of scope to include recent changes in the field,
 development of supportive agricultural engineering societies,
improved career prospects
 general impact that the profession has made onworld food production and
sustainable development
 PROBLEMS FACED BY
AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

 Most problems are to do with definition, identification, recognition and support
1. Problem of definition and identity:
 origins of agricultural engineering are based in agricultural mechanization
 discipline was taken to be synonymous with mechanisation and farm power.
 In soil and water conservation, it was considered synonymous with contour
pegging and construction of storm drains.
 Most government departments had soil conservation and agricultural tarctors
 Had very little of the oether Agric Eng activities
 Most government and parastatal departments with agric eng mainly maintain
machinery
 Another department may be charged with irrigation
 
2. Lack of professional recognition:
 In East and South Africa
 Agric Eng. Was not recognized as a profession over a long period of time
 in some cases this is true up to date it is notrecognised
 Earlier, it was managed by Civil Engineers and Mechanical Engineers.
 their allegiance was to their primary qualification rather than agricultural
engineering.
no one bothered to put agricultural engineering on the professional map until quite recently
 Society and industry did not recognise agricultural engineering
 the profession suffered from lack of goodwill investment into it
 agricultural engineering excluded from competitions undertaken or awards given such as
engineer of the year awards
 Some universities have all other programmes except Agric Engineering, others have the
programmes placed under different departments
 
3. Low ranking of agricultural engineering
 agricultural engineering was always ranked lower than the other
traditional engineering disciplines.
 conditions of service were always not so good implying
 the profession could not employ the best
 profession did not get the best of representatives to argue for it in general
 
4. Limited opportunity to practice the trade
 agricultural engineering was rarely practices as a profession in its’ totality
 Industries in the region generally did not have research and development (R & D)
 No for a for discussion to elevated the profession
 Thus no new knowledge was developed in the region in this area
 limiting the practice of agricultural engineering.
 Most industries in Africa import equipment and machinery from abroad.
 Exception: South Africa was isolated over time so it developed her own capacity
 Zimbabwe was also Isolated for some time.
 Engineers in most companies were (are) involved in sales and marketing.
 In government, the practice is only mechanization (management of machinery) and
soil conservation (Fanya juus, terracing)
 
 Low value of agriculture
 In the production to consumption continuum, agriculture occupies the base
of the value pyramid
 very little value addition (beneficiation) at this level
 limiting investment in support disciplines like agricultural engineering
involved at these lower levels of production.
 agricultural process engineering has come to be
more prominent in the final stages of the production to consumption chain
 Problems faced by the
Agricultural Engineer

1. Lack of recognition:
 Agricultural engineers were not recognised as engineers, unless
if they were from the traditional disciplines of engineering
 The mastery and acquisition of requisite engineering skills (Nyirenda, 1999) by
agricultural engineers was always doubted.
 At some point agricultural Engineers were thought to be agriculturalists with a little
engineering
 Consider this definition: “a person who prefers to talk about engineering in the presence of
farmers, and about agriculture in the presence of engineers!”
 Consider in French: names such as ‘ingenieur genierural’ or ‘ingenieur agronome’
 tied the agricultural engineer to rural infrastructure, soils, agriculture and the farm setup
 There was mediocre prestige of these engineers in the eyes of public.
 These engineers had /have to work hard for recognition
 
2. Poor professional development prospects
 In addition to poor recognition by industry and society
 Agric. Engineers suffered poor prospects of professional development
 This engineer, in mechanization, could only develop to the “Head or chief workshop Mechanic”.
 Industry interested in imports and only sales and marketing personnel
 Puts to waste all the engineering knowledge acquired.
 In the Ministries: Agric officer II upto Director of Agriculture.
 Engineers were largely disregarded, mistreated and poorly prepared for leadership in the
Ministry.
 the agricultural engineer had a very narrow career development path.
 On the academic development front
 Universities poorly funded
 No research funds set aside by government
 Poor training facilities
 Poorly coordinated management/prioritization of research
 
3. Lack of access to information
 Developing countries are notorious for not having access to information
 Likewise, agricultural engineers suffered from lack of access to recent and
relevant information.
 Libraries poorly resourced
 Engineers in this region behind in information
 Technology developed has tended not to be “cutting edge”.
 Internet has improved flow of information between developed and
developing countries
 Connectivity is a problem
 
4. Poor conditions of service
 “Traditional” engineers
 tended to have better offices and facilities
 givenprofessional and retention allowances, agricultural engineers rarely got these
 This persisted in government, industry, universities and research institutions
 agricultural engineers, invariably, had to engage in side activities or private businesses such as consultancies,
farming, transport services and the like
 These side activities, though necessary, did not add to the professional growth of the agricultural engineers.
 The agricultural engineer would thus lag behind in terms of research publications, engineering inventions, and so
on.
 Universities and academic institutions did not consider recruiting professors in this area a priority.
 Inexperienced professionals are therefore used to train and mentor upcoming engineers
 Led to further lack of professional development.


5. Poor employment prospects
 Economies in southern and eastern Africa moved from central command to market
driven economies

 employment prospects for most professionals engineers diminished drastically
 more and more graduate agricultural engineers have to ‘walk the streets
 Others are engaged in entrepreneurial activities not related to agricultural engineering
 This hinters professional practice and development
 Some teach geography or religion in schools
 In Zambia 1695 positions of Engineering in 1992, 54 were agric engineers, 700 were
mechanical, 584 were electrical and electronics Eng.
 Points to poor employment opportunities for Agric Engineers.
 In academic institutions, professors would often engage brilliant recently completed under
graduates students for postgraduate research and studies leading to masters and doctorate
qualifications in a short space of time
 Get highly qualified inexperienced engineers
 Leads to lack of confidence and also an undesirable incestuous knowledge base between the
professor, the former student and the research project they worked on
 Problems faced by agricultural
engineering degree programmes

1. Lack of popularity of agricultural engineering degree
 Established when they were experiencing problems in America and Europe
 Took time to realise necessity of changing
 Some people think that this is not engineering
 Question: if you can get into the engineering college why not do real engineering!
 Low student numbers, less resource allocation,
 This cuts across East and South Africa, even in Europe.
2. Lack of support from central authorities
 less resource allocation from central administration of agricultural colleges and


universities towards agricultural engineering
 This is compounded by generally poor funding of universities in Africa.
 Agricultural engineering laboratories are rarely adequately equipped or staffed
 Industrial base in Africa is very low, hence poor donations from industry to fund
education and research
 The lack of support, including for research funds, is reflected in the type of research
that is carried out in the region
 The research is not breakthrough research.
 most of the agricultural engineering research is funded from overseas sources
(probably over 85%
of the total)
 The agenda for these sources is not necessarily in tandem with local demands
 makes agricultural engineering work irrelevant and not adopted or taken up by
many
 
3. Competition from more visible degree programmes
 Previously competition was from mechanical and Civil Engineering
 Later from Environmental and Chemical Engineering
 Used to rank, and in some cases ranks much lower than other engineering
disciplines.
 In some instances, it was a specialization in other engineering disciplines.
 These have clouded identity and competitiveness of this programme.
 
4. Lack of accreditation by engineering councils and boards
 Some engineering programmes have not been formally accredited by the
appropriate engineering boards or councils in their countries
 Lack of accreditation weakens the programme and limits the employment
prospects of graduates
 Hinters the ability of the graduates to be registered as engineers after
serving the required professional internship
 
5. Slow responsiveness to change
 The rest of the world noted and experienced problems in the 70;s
 East and Central Africa were busy producing graduates in this area
 In America and Europe, changes were effected to be in tandem with current demands
 evolved and changed their names to modern and more
encompassing ones
 In Africa, we are still struggling to shift.
 This slowness is a problem for agricultural engineering in the region
 What happens to the Agricultural Engineer being churned to the market once these
changes are made in some places and not in others?
 
5. Constrained and crowded curricula in agricultural engineering
 Agricultural engineering students do a certain number of courses from
departments of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering and then those
from agriculture and agricultural engineering.
 Time constraints and resource constraints have led to poor investments in
training agric. Engineers
 In some instances they end up being “jack of all trades and master of none!
 ADVANCES MADE BY
AGRICULTURAL

ENGINEERING
 Agricultural engineering has made some inroads and advances at both the
individual and professional level
 Agricultural engineering as is, or reincarnated in some other
name, will continue and be expected to play a significant role in the region
 Economies in Eastern and Southern Africa are agro-based and will continue to
need agricultural engineering input
 Agricultural engineers are now much more able to articulate their cases and
define their professional niche more than before.
 Advances by the Profession

1. Recognition of the agricultural engineering profession
 After some hard work in alerting and sensitising society and industry to
what agricultural engineering is
 the profession is now getting the recognition that it deserves
 In the last two decades, it has come to be recognized as a profession
 Not considered as competition with other engineering professions but as
complementary to them
 feels those gaps that these other engineering disciplines cannot do, namely the
agricultural and biological aspects of engineering
 
2. Supportive professional societies
 Most countries in southern and eastern Africa now have societies of agricultural
engineers or engineering.
 KSAE
 In 1990s SEASAE was created (Not active)
 these societies being to further the agenda of the profession of agricultural engineering
 Through meetings, academic and research discourse, exchange of ideas, lobbying,
informing society and so on
 Through these, agricultural engineering has made some advances in terms of
recognition
 Active participation in the entire fraternity of Engineers(IEK) and preparing to register
with EBK.
 
3. Academic-Industry linkage
 Of late, there have been more and more linkages between agricultural
engineering institutions and industry, non-governmental organisations and
international world bodies.
 Students/graduates are easily placed in attachments/internships with a lot
of ease.
 Universities have been contacted as consultants by several institutions,
counties and NGOs to carry out several activities
 These linkages have put agricultural engineering on the map, as it were,
and help to highlight and consolidate its role and contribution to industry.
 
4. Advances into rural engineering
 The agricultural engineering profession has made some inroads into areas
such as rural engineering
 tasks include
 rural water supply and sanitation,
 rural roads design and construction,
 design and construction of small to medium sized dams and irrigation schemes,
 small process engineering plants.
 As land fragmentation continues and the need to sustain high level
technology sets in, the ABE graduate is expected to play a pivotal role in
future development
 Advances made by the
agricultural engineer

1. Professional recognition
 After a long struggle, agricultural engineers are now recognised as
engineers in their own right
 Formally it was a civil or mechanical engineer or an agriculturalist with a
bit of engineering working in agricultural engineering
 Now is a case of a formally qualified agricultural engineer
 
2. Agricultural engineer re-invented
 The agricultural engineer has reinvented themselves in modern society so
as to remain relevant.
 slowly but surely they are converting into bio-resources and bio-systems
engineering and environmental engineering
3. Better employment prospects

 Society and industry understands who an agricultural Engineer is
 employment prospects have improved
 Employment opportunities now exist in areas of
 water management,
 natural resource management,
 Energy development and management

 Agricultural machinery development and management mechanisation,

 Land development and management
 process engineering,
 environmental engineering and many others.
 The employment can be at the formulation, design, construction, operation, or
management level
 agricultural engineers work in agricultural finance and management after obtaining
a basic postgraduate diploma in business and financial management
 
4. Clear career paths
 clear and diversified career and professional development paths now exist for
agricultural engineers in institution
 agricultural engineers find themselves going all the way to the top to head
departments, universities, industries and corporations
 A number of agricultural engineers have become project managers and are
now working with banks and non-governmental organisations.
 The advantage of these advances by agricultural engineers is that those in higher
positions open opportunities for the rest of the agricultural engineering fraternity
and help to convince society on what an agricultural engineer can do.