The Responses of the Higher Education Sector in the Poverty Reduction Strategies in Africa: The Case of Cameroon

Abstract

Kamerunin hallitus on sitoutunut käyttämään korkeakoulutusta köyhyyden vähentämisessä ja muuttamaan Kamerunin kasvavan teollisuuden maaksi vuoteen 2035 mennessä. Tutkimuksessa analysoidaan sitoumuksesta alkunsa saaneita muutosprosesseja ja siinä luodaan teoriaperustaa kehityksen analyysille. Tutkimus on laadullinen laadullinen tapaustutkimus, mutta vahva teoriapainotteisuus luo edellytyksiä sovelluksille muissa kehittyvissä Afrikan maissa.

Korkeakoulutuksen systeemistä ympäristöä kuvataan kansallisen innovaatiojärjestelmän käsittein. Innovaatiojärjestelmätutkimuksen keskeinen käsite, kolmoiskierre (triple helix) auttaa osin jäsentämään kehitysprosesseja, mutta toisaalta se käsitteenä jää rajoittuneeksi kehittyvissä maissa, koska malli ei ota huomioon näiden maiden tuotantokapasiteetin painottumista epäviralliseen talouteen.

Tutkimuksen tulokset painottavat yhteisöllisen innovaatiojärjesteläm tärkeyttä yliopistojen kapasiteetin saamisessa palvelemaan taloudellista kehitystä ja sitä kautta köyhyyden vähentämistä. Tutkimus korostaa myös yrittäjämäisesti toimivan yliopiston mallin tärkeyttä Kamerunissa sekä laajemmin kehittyvissä maissa. Viime kädessä kysymys on akatemisen kulttuurin muutoksesta.

This study analysed recent transformation processes that have followed a commitment by the Cameroon government to use higher education (HE) as a driver of its poverty reduction strategies and to become an emergent industrialised economy by 2035. It was a theory-driven qualitative study; a country case study of HE which took a constructivist-interpretive approach to understand the perceptions of the use of HE in poverty reduction. The theoretical framework was built from the literature on the integration of HE in economic development with the major aim being to examine the links and missing links between the practices and the theoretical framework. The study relates to the strand of research which reveals that universities are going through a second revolution of the socio-economic relevance of their mission, thus suggesting an entrepreneurial paradigm encompassing a third mission. Participants in the study express belief in HE as a strategic sector in the sense where HE can intervene to develop all the sectors of national life. HE possesses the potential to address countries specific context of poverty depending on the way it embraces the societal preoccupations into its operations. This involves teaching, training, promoting and researching the problems of poverty and in general, that the university should be in the business of understanding what poverty is and tailoring knowledge to build capacities for poverty reduction.

The broad approach of a national innovation system (NIS) that was used to depict the systemic environment of HE suggests that the university s contribution to socio-economic development in Cameroon could be more direct than it is supposed to be if given a strong macro support system with linkages. Some significant results can and could always emerge from the universities but are hardly moved to their logical conclusions because of lack of macro linkages. The NIS makes it possible to understand that there is as yet, no status for university research in Cameroon and that the university is not sufficiently recognised and integrated into its national research, innovation and production systems. These translate into a conspicuous absence of a national strategic plan and no central (system) funding for university research. This lack of system status and recognition implies that a large portion of the country s knowledge potential is being neglected, which is a serious weakness given that it is no longer clear from which knowledge organisation, major innovations and technological breakthroughs emanate. In any case, they are either deeply enmeshed or parasitic upon the university. We also note the general absence of bridging structures to link the university to societal problems.

Although the broad national innovation system (NIS) was used as a starting point, it was difficult at one point to escape the spirit of the triple helix because of the involvement of the university as the organisational configuration of higher education. Besides, it could be seen from a recent university-industry charter in Cameroon that, it was along the government-university-industry nexus (triple helix) that the socio-economic role of the university was being conceived. The triple helix was therefore seen to provide a readymade framework from which analyses about the university in the Cameroonian NIS can transit from simple to complex situations. From another perspective, the triple helix was seen to be unrealistic and narrow in the sense that it fails to reflect developing countries, where much of their production capacities may heterogeneously be in the informal sectors. It can only be realistic from the perspective, where as confirmed in the current study, universities mostly go after major industries to the neglect of much in their environments. The adoption of a community innovation system in combination with small business and technology incentives was seen to be capable of solving this general weakness of universities going after major industries and would be most appropriate for developing countries universities to enable them connect directly into smaller businesses with the poorer segments of the population.

The use of an entrepreneurial framework makes it possible to observe that autonomy is well affirmed and devolved to Cameroonian HE institutions and operational units, which is important for them to become more market-smart and interactive with socio-economic operators. It is also possible to assert that the HE system in Cameroon is composed of a relatively strong academic heartland which is an important prerequisite for entrepreneurship. Similarly, very significant efforts were observed to have been made in creating internal interface structures which are important to connect or open up the university to its external socio-economic environment. Where one of the most strategic areas for transformation lies is cultural . This includes changing the mindset of the people and putting in place more appropriate incentive systems to promote entrepreneurship. For instance, there seemed to be no status for the funding of exploratory socio-economic and poverty reduction activities and no performance based mechanisms to achieve results. Finally, the use of the third mission framework suggests that Cameroonian universities are mostly involved in the social dimension of third mission. The innovative dimension crucial for a knowledge economy was lacking.