General
MARCCI Procures Equipment Worth One Billion
Makerere University’s World Bank funded Regional Centre for Crop Improvement (MaRCCI) on Friday June 29th 2018 procured the recent first class agricultural equipment to help students in the tilling of land for crop improvement.
The equipment procured at a cost of about sh1b was received by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe at the Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute (MUARIK) Kabanyolo.
Prof. Nawangwe while receiving the equipment stressed the need for the institute to embrace commercial production of crops which can help in the feeding of the University students, staff and other members of the general public.
He challenged the Agricultural College (CAES) to utilize the equipment to till the large chunk of land at Kabanyolo such that they can transit into commercial production.
“This can help us to utilize the proceeds not only to sustain our staffs but even to sustain the equipment such that agricultural expansion at the university can be enhanced, “he said.
Prof. Nawangwe also challenged the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) to take advantage of the partnerships the University has with Israel to have large plantations not only at Kabanyolo but also other places to grow crops such as Ovacado which has proved to have a huge market on the international scene.
He said the University has instituted a committee to begin investigations and recovery of all the land that belonged to the university.
He said the University is working with local governments to ensure that all the land that belongs to Makerere is free from encroachment so that the university can invest on it.
Prof. Nawangwe also applauded the college towards the equipment saying MaRCCI being a regional project, the first class equipment will enhance agricultural development in the entire region.
“I am impressed with what I have seen at our institute and I am sure that since they are the latest equipment they will greatly improve agricultural studies at the university and agriculture as a whole.
Dr. Richard Edema, the Director of the Regional Centre explained that the equipment worth sh1b include a tractor, a plough, a hauler, a planter ,an automatic fertilizer and insect side application machine and will greatly make mechanization and planting easier for the students.
“With this first class equipment, we shall help students open a lot of experimental land for cowpea, sorghum among other crops", he said.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Makerere University won a $6 million USD World Bank Grant for the establishment of the Regional Centre of Excellence in Crop Improvement within the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
The Centre according to Dr. Edema is an expansion of current activities of the university Regional Graduate Programs in Plant Breeding with the main objective of strengthening the PhD program in Plant Breeding in Biotechnology, the MSc in Plant Breeding and Seed Systems, applied research in various crops, and outreach activities to improve Ugandan agriculture through enhancing the skills of public and private personnel supporting crop breeding and production activities.
He said the grant provides for additional scientific and support staff and enhancement of facilities and equipment with the goal of modernizing and expanding the teaching, research, and service activities of MaRCCI in a sustainable manner.
He re-echoed that the Institute used to do a lot of small level field trials but with the equipment a lot more acreage of land will be tilled to enhance field trials.
“There are some nice varieties that we want to expand the trials and we hope this will help us a lot to increase the acreage on top of producing good varieties which can be distributed to farmer’s multiplication.
He observed that sorghum and cowpeas are crops grown on low level for food, but they want to upgrade them to become raw materials for industries through increasing their yields to enhance industrial sustainability.
“We are trying to increase the yields of these two crops such that they can liberate the country in terms of industrial raw materials to help farmers increase their income at the same time fight against food insecurity", he said.
The Principal of CAES Prof Bernard Bashaasha said the Institute has been having a problem of farm power equipment but with the new equipment, more land will be opened and be utilized beyond students.
He said the College is planning to involve everybody to promote the growing of avocados for commercial production.
He said the MaRCCI means a lot to the College and the entire university. MaRCCI is helping the College to achieve the objectives of training, research and outreach.
“It is enabling us to train for the region and for Africa as reflected in the number of international students who are part of the project equivalent to 40 students", he said.
Towards research, Prof. Bashaasha stressed that the project is building the research value chain because it has produce state-of-the-art lab equipment to train both Uganda’s scientists and those in the region to breed new seeds developing them and trial testing them in the field and with farmers.
He said MaRCCI has done a lot on outreach where some students are carrying out farm trials where as some farmers come to the College for training on top of capacity building of the staff.
He said the Institute has about 600hectates of land at Kabanyolo which has not been maximally utilised. The Institutehas one tractor which has been overused and always breaking down.
“What we need now are the brand new long life tractors which we can use beyond students and staff experiments to open up more land for commercial production", he said.
Dr. Dramadri Isaac Ojega, a crop breeder in cow pea said the project is helping him to improve cow pea for diseases, pests, drought and high yield.
“We are currently having cowpea varieties and we are evaluating a collection of cow pea line both locally in Uganda and also from the international collaborators in the University of California. The best line in the field that will be evaluated for three years will be recommended to farmers", he said.
He said that the cowpea being a legume has a low production of less than 200,000 tones per a year which is quite very low.
“In most of the Northern, North East and some parts of Karamoja which are prone to drought and flooding, they really need this crop because it survives very well in such areas", he remarked.
The Ag. Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi on Tuesday 29th April 2025 met with a delegation whose vision is to transform Uganda into East Africa’s premier digital skills hub through equipping 200,000 youth and professionals with digital and cybersecurity skills by 2027. The ambitious programme is a strategic collaboration between Deborah’s Impact Projects Africa-Uganda (DIPA-U), Africa World Train Center (AWTC) and the Office of the First Lady of Uganda (OFLU), with Ugandan Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as partners.
The delegation included; Ms. Elinor Wanyama Chemonges-Head DIPA-U, Ms. Betty Byanyima-Emerging Leaders Program (ELP)/DIPA-U, and Ms. Beat Bisangwa-OFLU. In attendance were Prof. Tonny Oyana-Principal College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS), Dr. Rodney Rugyema-Deputy Dean of Students, Mr. Awel Uwihanganye-Head Advancement and other officials.
The presentation by the delegation noted that the proposed programme creates a dual benefit of addressing digital opportunities and creating sustainable employment in high-growth digital sectors. The programme will begin with foundational IT and cybersecurity training before branching off into specialized career tracks in technical cybersecurity, compliance, IT Helpdesk, tech sales and marketing.
The training will be implemented in three phases commencing in May 2025 with IT fundamentals before delving into specialized career tracks and industry certifications in December 2025, and thereafter, workplace integration, business partnerships and freelancing skills in the third phase slated to commence in 2026. 20,000 participants are anticipated to be trained during the first phase, while the second and third phases envision training 80,000 and 100,000 participants respectively, bringing the total to 200,000.
The Uganda Digital Pathways Initiative was officially launched by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs. Janet Kataaha Museveni on 22nd March 2025, where the first student, Miss Precious Keza pre-registered for the initiative. The event held at the Freedom Square, Makerere University was part of the Mantle of Deborah National Conference, an apostolic and prophetic movement aimed at equipping women for leadership, purpose and national transformation.
In his remarks, Prof. Buyinza welcomed and thanked the delegation for choosing Makerere University as partner for the initiative, adding “Our business is training; anything to do with digital skills improvement is welcome and we are excited and committed to transform the mindset of our graduates so as to make them more marketable.”
He further lauded the delegation for including the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) in the deliberations, noting that Makerere is always appreciative of inroads made in linking industry with academia for skills enhancement of graduates.
Contributing to the discussion, Prof. Tonny Oyana reassured the delegation that CoCIS is will be happy to co-create and co-design curricula with the initiative, which he opined can be offered as a short course. “We look forward to designing an experience that gives measurable outcomes.”
Furthermore, Dr. Rodney Rugyema underlined the Office of the Dean of Students willingness to mobilise students to pre-register for the initiative. He nevertheless requested the delegation to share more information on what will inform enrolment for the specialized career tracks so as to enable participants envision how their skills will contribute to the greater goal of transforming Uganda into East Africa’s premier digital skills.
Today’s meeting will be followed by a virtual meeting with the Africa World Train Center (AWTC) to further thresh out finer details on curricula and implementation.
Participants are encouraged to pre-register using the link: https://www.africaworldtraincenter.org/digital-pathways
A delegation from the University of Zululand in South Africa, led by Professor Byron A. Brown, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Engagement and Transformation, is visiting Makerere University on a two-day benchmarking mission focused on Africanising education and strengthening research collaboration.
During their visit, the delegation held discussions with the Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe; the Ag. Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Professor Buyinza Mukadasi; the Ag. Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Professor Winston Tumps Ireeta; Professor Sarah Ssali, the Director of the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Notions of Identity and the Director of Research, Innovation and Partnerships, Dr. Robert Wamala.
The discussions explored opportunities for integrating African perspectives and knowledge systems into university curricula, enhancing research networks across the continent, and fostering partnerships that empower African institutions to contribute meaningfully to global scholarship. Both institutions reaffirmed their commitment to the decolonisation of education and the promotion of African-led research initiatives.
In a symbolic and heartfelt gesture, the University of Zululand delegation presented a traditional Zulu spear and shield to Professor Nawangwe. The gift was accompanied by a message of solidarity and encouragement—to equip him in the ongoing struggle for the decolonisation of the curriculum at African universities. Professor Brown explained that the spear and shield represent the resilience, courage, and determination needed to reclaim African narratives in education.
Receiving the gift, Professor Nawangwe expressed his deep gratitude and reiterated Makerere University‘s commitment to championing African-centered scholarship and knowledge production. He noted that true transformation of African education must involve redefining curricula to reflect the continent’s histories, values, and aspirations. In return, he presented to Prof. Brown a book with the history of Makerere University.
The two-day mission is expected to pave the way for stronger collaboration between Makerere University and the University of Zululand, including joint research projects, faculty and student exchanges, and shared initiatives aimed at promoting Africanisation in higher education.
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