MAKERERE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (CAES) School of Agricultural Science School of Forestry Environmental and School of Food Technology, Nutrition and Bio Geographical Science Engineering ANNUAL REPORT 2014/2015 A report compiled by the Communication Officer, CAES Foreword This report is a representation of the major activities and achievements in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Science (CAES) covering the academic year 2014/2015. The report covers the strategic areas as outlined in the University strategic areas and events within the prescribed period. It covers the academic profiles including student enrolment and registration, student graduation and new programs. The report also outlines innovations in teaching and research, resource mobilization and collaborative efforts. You will also find sections on knowledge sharing and transfer to society, human resource and capacity building efforts and publications. During this academic year 2014-2015, the College endeavoured to live to its mission to produce professionals and practitioners, generate and disseminate knowledge and technologies to enhance agricultural development, sustainable natural resource utilization and environmental management. All units have recorded notable achievements and these are attributed to the dedicated efforts of staff and students coupled with university leadership and support accorded to the college by various agricultural related donors and other development partners. At the national level, several workshops, seminars, exhibitions and conferences involving several stakeholders have been successfully held. At the international scene our staff attended the Deans and Principals meeting of RUFORUM member Universities. The meeting was hosted by the University of Gezira and Kordofan University at Rotana Hotel in Khartoum during which, the RUFORUM Strategic Business Plan 2015-2020 was drafted. The college participated in the Source of the Nile Agriculture Show and Trade Fair popularly known as the Jinja show. The show is a national event during which research institutions, seed companies, agribusiness firms and other businesses come together to showcase their latest innovations and technologies. This year was 23rd Source of the Nile National Agricultural Show and Trade Fair which took place from 6th – 13th July 2015. The theme for this year‘s exhibition was: “climate smart agriculture for sustainable food security and wealth creation”. CAES is a permanent exhibitor at the show ground and has since last year expanded its land holding to cater for the Food Science Business Incubation Centre. The Micro Gardening Initiative (UMGI) by a group of students from the Department of Extension and Innovation Studies (DEIS) and the Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO) and Earthworms as alternative protein feed for poultry were the shining attractions at the show, including meeting some of their own subsistence costs. The UMGI‘s performance showed that students can and should in future play a more prominent role at the show. The college continued to attracted eminent national and international visitors. The King of Tooro Kingdom, Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV visited the CAES School of Food Technology Nutrition and Bio engineering to explore partnership with the Food Technology Business Incubation Centre (FTBIC). Tooro Kingdom and Makerere University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cement the relationship. The MoU will first be implemented in the CAES through the School of Food Technology, Nutrition and Bio-Engineering to start with. The main objective of the MoU is to partner with your Kingdom to enhance each other‘s areas of interest and development. The European Union (EU) in collaboration with Makerere University and RUFORUM hosted the EU Ambassador H.E. Mr. Kristian Schmidt. This event served to debrief the university about Erasmus Mundus Programme Scholarships for students & academics and also to profile and market the European Union support to Makerere University. ii We successfully conducted all undergraduate and post graduate courses with increased emphasis on training in practical skills to meet the clientele demands. Our students have on average excelled well in their studies. Notably, the college continued to attract several international students in all units. The M.Sc. in Plant Breeding and Seed Systems / PhD Plant Breeding and Biotechnology has exceptionally done well and was able to host 80 students across Africa and conduct new courses in Quantitative Genetics and Advanced Statistical Plant Breeding by extension. The Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics, participates in a Regional Collaborative Masters Program (MSc. Agricultural and Applied Economics).There are 16 Universities in Eastern and Southern Africa participating in this Program with funding from African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). The Program has one curriculum across the Universities and is jointly reviewed every three years. It has three Semesters of coursework; the first two at mother Universities and the third Semester at University of Pretoria where all the students meet for specialised course units. Our own student, Ms. Asha Nalunga was the overall best student in the coursework in her cohort .She travelled to South Africa, University of Pretoria to receive the "Best Student Award‖. Out of the 16 participating Universities, Makerere University emerged the Best performing University - based on how our students performed. CURAD was voted as number one incubator in Africa in terms of implementation and impact among the six incubators namely CURAD, there was one for Banana from Uganda, one in Kenya, another one in Zambia, Mali and in Ghana. The trophy was delivered to the Principal CAES Prof. Bernard Bashaasha by the Manager CURAD, Mr. Appolo Ssegawa. CURAD is an agribusiness Incubator promoted by Makerere University College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), NARO and NUCAFFE. It promotes entrepreneurship by students and graduates of Makerere University in business incubation especially those working with agribusiness or farming. It has 64 entrepreneurs that its supporting and has created over 1400 jobs that contributed to its award winning. CURAD also promotes curriculum review activities in CAES due to be finalised by validation at the University Senate. We also managed to send the 3rd cohort of our undergraduate students to Israel for 11 months paid internship. The students were flagged off to Israel by H.E the President of Uganda represented by his Vice. Hon. Edward Ssekandi at Lugogo Indoor Stadium. The Department of Geography, Geo informatics and Climatic Sciences held a two weeks refresher course for Alumni of Netherlands institutions on Modern Satellite - based Digital Data technologies. The college continued to excel in research and grant acquisition and has maintained a record in publishing. For the period 2014- 2015, we recorded over 100 publications in peer reviewed journals and other publications in conference proceedings. The college research programs were boosted by several grants especially from RUFORUM, USAID, AGRA, Bill and Melinda Gates, Danida, SCARDA, NORAD, SIDA, SASAKAWA Global 2000, European Union, Makerere University, research organizations and government in various areas of Food science and Nutrition, plant breeding, livestock productivity and climate change mitigation among others. The college participated in the University wide Curriculum Review process. This is most relevant in responding to the changing demands for the type of graduates by the end users. Other purposes for the review included removing any duplication in programmes and course units; removing any redundant course units and/or programmes; enriching the content of the curricula to address current and emerging national and global challenges; and harmonising course units including the minimum graduation load. iii In the area of Research innovations, the Department of Agricultural and Bio systems engineering (ABE) invented the Farmers Multipurpose tractor code named the ‗MV Mulimi‖. The project was funded by the Presidential Initiative Project at a total cost of UGX 25 million. The MV Mulimi development team is made of Prof. Noble Banadda as the PI and co-PIs, namely, Dr. Nicholas Kiggundu and Dr. Ahamada Zziwa. The principal Technician is Mr. Ernest Tibaku-Zira assisted by Samuel Mutesasira and Denis Nsubuga who are Agricultural Engineers from Makerere University. MV Mulimi has been tested for and capable of performing five (5) tasks, namely; threshing maize to reduce postharvest losses; pumping water for irrigation; charging phones to keep farmers informed of Agricultural produce markets; hauling agricultural produce up to 1 ton and ploughing fields.. The building of the tractor started on 1st September, 2015 at the departments‘ engineering workshop at the Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo (MUARIK) using locally available materials. The final product was delivered in a period of two and a half months. The tractor uses diesel of fuel less than a litre per day. Memorable landmarks for the year include significant strides in the infrastructure development. Using projects overheads, the Principal procured a generator worth over 200,000 million shillings to address the problem of power cuts. This generator serves the School of Agricultural Sciences and the School of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences. I thank the college management for the