Latest News & Announcements

The SLU-led Dryland Transform Research Project organised a panel discussion titled ‘Ecosystem restoration for feed, food and nutrition resilience in East African drylands’, during the East Africa Pastoralist Expo in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 26th Jan – 2nd Feb 2024. Dryland Transform was represented by the Kenya and Uganda Country Co-ordinators, Dr. Stephen Mureithi and Prof. Denis Mpairwe, respectively.

RANGE (Resilient Approaches in Natural ranGeland Ecosystems) is a new five-year project (2024-2028) funded by the Dutch Embassy in Kenya. It aims to strengthen the resilience of communities in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) in the Isiolo, Marsabit and Samburu counties. This will be achieved through multiple interventions and capacity building activities. The aim is to improve rangeland management, sustainable production methods, strengthened government structures, and better-informed decision making through research and resulting evidence.

The TRAMAP Project Team participated in AgriFoSe2030's end-of-programme workshop held at the Park Inn Hotel in Westlands, Nairobi on 13th-15th Nov. 2023.

On 26th October, 2023 Ms. Margeret Nyaga, a PhD student (Range Management) from the Department of Land Resource Management and Agricultural Technology (LARMAT), University of Nairobi, presented a poster entitled “Rangeland restoration for resilient livelihoods through Livestock Cafés in the drylands of East Africa” during the AGRO-CONFERENCE 2023 organized by the Faculty of Agriculture. She was awarded as the best overall poster presenter.

On January 18, 2024 Dr. Anton Vrieling and Lisette Muelman from University of Twente (ITC) visited the Department of LARMAT. The guest had a discussion with the Chairman Prof. Richard Onwonga and Prof. Oliver Vivian Wasonga on possible partnership within the framework of a new project: “Resilience Approaches in Natural Rangeland Ecosystems' (RANGE). The project is financed by the Dutch Embassy, and focuses on enhancing rangelands and pastoralists resilience in the Counties Isiolo, Marsabit, and Samburu.

We are seeking to recruit participants for the International Virtual Course (IVC) on “Tackling Climate Change through Global Learning” that is scheduled to take place from 1st July to 19th July, 2024.

Dr. Anne Karuma, a Soil Scientist and Lecturer in the department Dr. Anne Karuma, a Soil Scientist and Lecturer in the department of Land Resources Management and Agricultural Technology (LARMAT), , actively participated in the launch of The World Soil Day/Kenya Food Systems and Land Use Action Plan (2024 - 2030) held at The Radisson Blue Upper Hill in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Department of LARMAT on November 29th, 2023, hosted a team of researcher partners from Cardiff University under the “Translation of climate information into multilevel decision support for social adaptation, policy development, and resilience to water scarcity in the Horn of Africa Drylands (DOWN2EARTH) project. DOWN2EARTH seeks to address the multi-faceted challenges of water scarcity and food insecurity under climate change in Horn of Africa Drylands, by facilitating community-centered adaptation and resilience to climate change impacts.

Prof.Oliver Vivian Wasonga from Department of Land Resources Management and Agricultural Technology(LARMAT) is the 2nd overall best researcher at the University of Nairobi while Dr. Oscar Koech from LARMAT was recognized as the second best overall teacher in the Faculty of Agriculture.

On 24th November 2023. Elkanah Kipkoech Langat defended his research thesis entitled “Evaluation of Selected Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum) Accessions for Tolerance to Soil Acidic Conditions under Hydroponic and Pot Conditions “. He was conferred with a degree in Master of Science in Land and Water Management during the 70th UoN Graduation ceremony held on 15th December 2023. Prof. Richard Onwonga and Dr. Anne Karuma supervised the thesis