By KT Reporter
Academics at Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) in Fort Portal Tourism City have underscored the importance of partnerships to address challenges posed by climate change and to improve the agriculture sector.
The call was made on Tuesday during a Joint Steering Committee meeting hosted by the university under the Mobility 4 Agricultural International Networks Supporting Thematic Resilience and Enhancing Adaptation and Mitigation (MAINSTREAM) project. The project offers mobility scholarships to African scholars, including students and staff, with the goal of enhancing education skills development and climate change resilience in agricultural knowledge systems across Africa.
MMU is among seven institutions benefiting the EU-funded project for the next 48 months. The other Institutions are; Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University Of Science and Technology (JOOUST, Kenya), Universite De Kara (Togo), Universite Du Sine Saloum El-Hadj Ibrahima Niass (USSEIN) (Senegal), University Of The Free State (South Africa), Arsi University, (Ethiopia) and Hochschule Weihenstephan-Triesdorf (HWST, Germany). The project is worth 1,785,780 Euros.
In his message delivered by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in Charge of Academic Affairs, Prof. John Mase Kasenene, the MMU University Vice-Chancellor Professor Pius Coxwell Achanga, said the MAINSTREAM project strives to influence a common agenda for addressing education and skills improvement for the agricultural knowledge systems both at regional and country levels targeting transformations through tertiary agricultural education community, policy, and industry actors.
He noted that this is a key partnership towards solving world productivity by improving productivity, security, and availability where needed, noting that universities are key pillars in influencing positive change.
Prof. Edmond Kagambe who chairs the MAINSTREAM project joint committee and is also the deputy Vice Chancellor in Charge of Finance and Administration at MMU told URN in an interview that the MAINSTREAM project is a platform for knowledge sharing to enable improved productivity and incomes at the farm level.
He noted that institution’s working in the same areas of interest need to work together so that they can address social challenges adding that they are in the selection process for the first cohort.
Prof. Violet Kisakye, the MAINSTREAM said MMU and partners are trying to demystify the idea agriculture education by making the graduates are practical as possible by exposing them to different innovations world over.
Dr. Dragan Brkovic, Project Coordinator for Centre for International Affairs at Weihenstephan Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences in Germany said qualifying candidates will have an opportunity to study-by-doing, enrich their inter-cultural experiences and bring back the experiences into their communities-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
