Africa-US Initiative delagates, with UoN top managers.

 

The University of Nairobi is strengthening, studies in dryland farming through collaboration with stakeholders and partners from the U.S. The partners through their representatives from Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative, visited the University of Nairobi and were received by Prof. Isaac Mbeche, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Student Affairs, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor. They were: Dr. Tully Cornick, Higher Education for Development, Jessie Brown, Associate General Counsel at the American Council on Education, and John Vaughn, Association of American Universities and Michael Coughenour , Colorado State University.

The delegates had just attended a joint workshop event for introducing a accomplishments and Visions for Africa-U.S Higher Education Initiatives Partnerships, organized by the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University at the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE), which discussed ways of increased technical capacity to improve agricultural production.

 

Through the partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Dryland Ecosystems and Societies (CSDES), which is a partnership between Colorado State University and UoN, the Center for Sustainable Drylands signed a two-year sponsorship with USAID through HED which came into effect on June 3, 2011. The total funding for the UoN activities amounts to US $393,655. 

 

This pilot project is one of the 11 competitively selected partnership projects across Africa under the USAID-HED Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative Programme. Kenya was the only country that won two awards, one on Sustainable Drylands (University of Nairobi) and the other on Strengthening Secondary School Teacher Education (Kenyatta University).  The Principal College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Prof. Agnes Mwang’ombe is the Chair of the Center’s Advisory Board, while the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture and the Chairman, LARMAT has supported this CSDES initiative at every stage led by the Chairman, Prof. Robinson Ngugi and Prof. Jesse Njoka, Coordinator/Director, Center for Sustainable Drylands.

 

The CSDES strategic vision is the sustainability of dryland ecosystems for human wellbeing by establishing a leading Center for trans-disciplinary education and relevant action research that builds capacity for sustaining drylands and human livelihoods. It aims at strengthening the PhD Dryland Resource Management Programme and other degree curricula to provide leadership in academic excellence among the RUFORUM member Universities.

 

Among several of the activities that are being supported by the USAID through HED pilot project include: