The African Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD) is a multi-disciplinary peer-reviewed journal with an ultimate purpose of sharing and increasing the depth of knowledge on aspects of sustainable rural development. The articles contained in this issue of the AFJRD, Volume 1 Issue 3 demonstrate the potential contributions of universities to uptake and diffusion of research outputs through well-structured outreach programs. Higher education is increasingly being recognised as a critical aspect of the development process, especially with the growing awareness of the role of science, technology and innovation in economic renewal. There is consensus that universities have immense potential to promote technological development and uptake through their three-fold mission of teaching, research and outreach/community engagement. These are noticeable variations in strategy and approach to outreach/community engagement mainly due to the traditional separation between research and teaching. Reforms that will entail a close linkage between the three-fold mission and promote integration of research and teaching using experiential learning approaches will no double facilitate significant attention and improvements in structuring as well as institutionalising outreach/community engagement programs.