Of sub-Saharan Africa's 150,000 extension workers, perhaps one in six have university degrees. The rest hold a certificate or, at most, a diploma. Thus 85 percent of the extension workers begin their careers in the field with a weak grasp of agricultural science and limited skills in extension communication. And even if they achieve success at the field level, they are seldom able rise to supervisory positions, despite their first-hand experience with farmers and farming, unless they receive advanced training. But extension education in most African nations frail, starved by inadequate funding and debilitated by outdated curricula. The agricultural universities are failing to lead in upgrading the skills of research and extension practitioners and in preparing capable professional agriculturists for the future. SAA confronts this twin challenge of wasted human resources and irrelevant extension training through the Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE). In countries that have SG 2000 programmes, outstanding extension workers get an opportunity to study for a B.Sc. or M.Sc. in agricultural extension. Candidates are selected for technical and leadership skills demonstrated in the field. SAA is also helping universities to reform their agricultural education programmes. Beginning in 1993, SAA has worked with the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and extension specialists from Winrock International (Arkansas, USA) to develop an innovative extension education programme for mid-career extension workers. The goals are to open doors to leadership positions for mid-career extension workers through advanced training, to link extension curricula more closely to the real world of African farmers, and to help university faculty to broaden their perspectives by frequent contact with the rapid change taking place in rural areas. With help from SAFE, comparable precedent-breaking revisions of extension curricula have begun at other institutions: *Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania (1998) *Alemaya University of Agriculture, Ethiopia (1994) *Makerere University, Uganda (1997) Hopefully, new courses will be launched soon at several other universities. *Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso (2001) *University of Mali (2001) *Amado Bello University, Nigeria (2001) SAA provides some financial support to these universities for curriculum enhancement, acquisition of teaching and library reference materials, field work and research. In Ghana, with help from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and SAFE, Kwadaso Agricultural College, in collaboration with the University of Cape Coast, has developed a 2-year diploma programme for extension workers who have a certificate. That programme allows mid-career extension training programme at the University of Cape Coast to focus on diploma holders who are working towards a B.Sc. A key feature of the revised extension curricula is supervised enterprise projects (SEPs) in which students spend 6 to 8 months in the field working with farmers to introduce a new technology. The projects allow students to meld their newly acquired knowledge with their experience while sharpening skills in interacting with farmers. Faculty advisors visit each student's project to monitor progress and to offer counsel. A report on the project's outcome is part of the student's B.Sc. requirements. Another important aspect of the SAFE programme is the involvement of the student's employer--whether a government agency or a private company. The employer helps select the mid-career candidate, assures that the student's salary will continue while studies are under way, and guarantees a job upon graduation. Between 1995 and 2000, several hundred extension workers had graduated from mid-career programmes at the six universities. In 2001, the number of currently enrolled mid-career students is reaching more than 300. These and other African universities are being linked in periodic workshops sponsored by SAFE. The workshops are intended to promote the concept of mid-career B.Sc. courses in extension education and facilitate the sharing of promising ideas about the best ways to carry out innovative extension training programmes. Besides the educational opportunities under the SAFE programme, SAA also awards individual scholarships to extension workers to pursue B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees at local universities. Through 1999, there have been three dozen beneficiaries. In addition, three individuals have completed Ph.D. degrees at universities outside Africa.