Faculty of Agriculture Historical Achievements

The Faculty of Agriculture hosted the AGRO 2019 Conference and Exhibition from 22nd to 24th October 2019 at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. The Conference was organized as part of the University of Nairobi's 2019 Edition of Research Week which ran from October 17 - October 25, 2019.

The Conference, whose theme was "catalyzing sustainable Food and Nutrition security through Research, Technology and innovation",   served as a platform for students, researchers, academics, practitioners, industry, development agencies, civil society and policy makers to learn, share information, build-networks and partnerships with the overall objective of addressing the Agri-food systems challenges. Success stories of technologies, practices, strategies and policies applied to address food and nutrition security were shocked

The Conference theme was unpacked into five thematic areas: 1) Crop Systems; 2) Animal Systems; 3. Environment, Natural Resource Management and -Sustainability; 4) Postharvest Management and Value Addition; and 5) Agribusiness, Technology Transfer and Extension.

The Conference was officially opened by Prof. Hamadi Boga, Principal Secretary, Department of Crop Development and Agriculture Research in the Ministry Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries.  The Department to make a Keynote Presentation on the Role of Academia and Research as Enablers of the Big Four Agenda: Focus on Food Security.

 The conference had six key note speakers, three plenary sessions, three panel discussions and a student awards ceremony. One hundred and fifty nine (159) papers were presented orally and 25 were presented as posters. There were exhibitions by the College and the industry.  Over 300 persons participated in the Conference.

The Faculty of Agriculture launched its inaugural Journal of Agriculture, Food and Environment (JAFE) on 22nd October 2019 during the AGRO 2019 Conference and Exhibition held at CAVS. The launch was officiated by Prof. Hamadi Boga, the Principal Secretary, State Department of Crop Development and Agriculture Research. JAFE publishes original research as, review, technical papers and opinion particles from different fields:  Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Technology, Animal Production, Applied Human Nutrition, Biotechnology, Food Science and Technology, Land Resource Management, and Plant Sciences.   Original research papers

In partnership with Smart Farmer Africa and Nairobi University Agriculture Students association (N.U.A.S.A), the Faculty of Agriculture with the support of the College hosted "YOUTH AGRITALKS UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI" for a full day on Friday, 29th November 2019 from 8.30 AM to 4.00 PM at the 8-4-4 lecture theatre 

The key objective of the AGRITALKS is to motivate our students (youth), particularly undergraduates, to "see" the many opportunities in Agriculture. I therefore wish to cordially invite you to attend and participate in this important event.

THE THEME OF THE TALKS: UNPACKING THE COOL IN AGRICULTURE: THE OPPORTUNITIES AND THE SUBSTANCE

The Subthemes included:

1. From Poverty to Prosperity: The Case for Agriculture
2. The Role of ICT in Attracting Youth into Agriculture
3. Changing the Mindset of the Youth and the Society Towards Agriculture

There were illuminating speeches, talks and exhibitions from key players in the industry who were mobilized by Smart Farmer Africa.  Some of the topics covered were: interrogating the barriers hindering youth and the society towards agriculture; The Case for data - driven agriculture; changing the mindset of the youth and the society towards agriculture; ICT enabled journey into profitable farming and agribusiness; opportunities and the substance.

Over 500 students and staff attended the event which attracted Agro-processors, farmers, IT companies, policy makers and agri-preneurs.

The Faculty launched the guidelines for the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy proposals, theses and dissertation on January 24, 2020.  This was officiated by the Principal College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Professor Rose Nyikal.

This document is the first of its kind in the history of the Faculty. The guidelines make it easier for students to develop and format proposals and theses, reduce the period taken by supervisors to provide feedback on proposals, theses and dissertations. Further, Graduate School has come up with new guidelines on graduate student supervision, proposal submission, anti-plagiarism testing and thesis examination which students need to know. The Faculty requires its graduate students to publish their research findings in peer reviewed international journals with good impact factor before graduation. Preparation of high quality theses can therefore aid in producing high standard manuscripts. Also, a thesis (or a dissertation) is a final, fully edited, published document that is uploaded in the University of Nairobi’s repository. Faculty of Agriculture theses and dissertations must always, therefore, be of high standard. In recognition of the aforementioned facts, the Faculty of Agriculture Graduate Studies Committee was tasked to come up with a guiding document for graduate students. The resulting document was then approved by the Faculty Board.

These guidelines will equip graduate students with essential information on how to prepare and submit proposals, dissertations and theses in a consistent format acceptable to the Faculty of Agriculture and the Graduate School.