General
GREAT Conducts First Spinoff Courses for ICRISAT Social Scientists and Plant Breeders
GREAT conducts the first spinoff courses for ICRISAT Social Scientists and Plant Breeders working on Tropical Legumes III to build their Capacities for Gender Responsive Research and Reporting
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has supported Makerere and Cornell Universities to conduct short courses for agricultural researchers in sub-Saharan Africa (2015-2020) and establish Makerere University as a centre of Excellence in Gender and Agricultural Research Training under the projected titled, “Gender-responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT). This initiative is implemented collaboratively by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and the School of Women and Gender Studies.
Over the years, there has been increasing demand for Makerere University’s GREAT short courses in Sub Saharan Africa and beyond. In 2017/2018, the university was contacted by seven organisations/projects to offer tailored courses. This is evidence that the GREAT course profile and visibility have increased. These spinoff courses represent one of the key strategies for sustainability of the GREAT course. The organisations that request for them show willingness to pay for the GREAT course.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Makerere University and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in April 2018 for Makerere to train biophysical and social scientists working on the Tropical Legumes III project.
As a result, eighteen (18) participants (9 social scientists and 9 legume breeders) from sub-Saharan Africa working in NARs and Universities on various breeding programs under the Tropical Legumes III project on 26th November, 2018 converged at Forest Cottages, Bukoto in Kampala, Uganda for the GREAT capacity building course on Gender-responsive research and reporting offered at Makerere University.
The research teams from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mali, Ghana and Nigeria have collected household level data on project focus crops mainly groundnuts, cowpeas, common beans and chickpeas production areas.
The six day GREAT-TL III course ending on 1st December 2018 was opened by the Senior Gender scientist for East and Southern Africa, ICRISAT, Dr. Esther Njuguna. Another ICRISAT staff in attendance is Dr. Edward Bikett.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Esther Njuguna said TLIII with its partners in the program have an intention of breeding improved legume varieties in seven countries in East, Western and Central Africa.“So today we have leaders of those breeding programs collectively coming together to discuss about gender integration. These are also teams looking at what gender means, having a gender product profile and how that is practically done in terms of data collection, interpretation of results and designing research questions that need intervention.
“We have requested GREAT if they can build capacity of our teams in this particular aspect because of their experience in training gender and social science teams. So we are spending time here in Kampala to discuss and agree on a way forward so that we can implement gender responsive activities in our project”, Dr. Njuguna said.
Dr. Njuguna said, gender is important not as an end in itself, but as a means of delivering outcomes for women and men who are vulnerable in different typologies and communities.
She explained that failure to consider gender equals to failure to consider interests of half of the community and failure of having a way to deliver the program objectives.
“So when we are talking about gender-responsive product profile, we are asking ourselves questions like, “What are those traits that are important for women, men or a certain segment of consumers and why, and how programmers respond to those needs, so that we have adoption and impact to change lives in terms of nutrition and income generation”, Dr. Njuguna explained.
In her key message to the participants, Dr. Njuguna stressed that gender issues are important in every sphere of life and that, in a scientific thematic area like plant breeding and seed systems deployment, it becomes challenging because these are traditional areas where many have made progress on how to do things best.
“But one reality is that the adoption levels have been very low and one of the hypotheses is that, we have been blind to the gender issues and needs of the different categories of our farmers and consumers.
“When we are talking about gender, we are taking a deliberate action by looking at those needs, traits and preferences so that we are more targeted for better efficiency in our programmes for impact in terms of nutrition and incomes”, Njuguna stated.
Makerere University’s Program Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Margaret Najjingo Mangheni said this training focuses on breeders and social scientists who are working with the Tropical Legume III program – a breeding program funded by Bill and Melinda gates Foundation.
“Here we have nine research teams that are being trained and the focus of the training is to build their capacities to conduct gender-responsive research so that the technologies they generate from their breeding are able to address the priorities and needs of men and women.
It also has a component of seed systems because what they breed has to eventually get out to the communities so that it is utilized by the farmers and other actors in the seed value chain,” the Makerere Don said.
She explained that, the teams will be taken through the concepts of gender, gender sensitive research, gender breeding priority setting, how to conduct qualitative and quantitative data in a mixed methods approach, analyze and interpret it so that it is able to feed in national breeding programs of these countries mentioned.
The course participant teams will present the status of their projects i.e., their research questions, progress and any gender-related questions for which they may need answers. Teams that have data will present the gender yield gap case studies which will be interrogated to draw implications for gender-responsive programming.
In her key message, Prof. Mangheni told participants that, the role of GREAT is to create inclusive agricultural systems that are able to address the needs and priorities of men and women. She implored participants to apply what they will have learnt saying, the core value of GREAT is to train for practice.
“It is my call to participants that when they learn, they apply. We don’t want people to learn the skills and leave them in Kampala or here at Makerere… but rather when they get off the planes, they are able to transform the breeding programs and agricultural systems in their countries”, she said.
Background to the GREAT course
The Gender-responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT) course is a Cornell University-Makerere University joint certificate program in applied gender training for agricultural research.
It offers skills in gender-responsiveness tailored to agricultural researchers to integrate gender in research along the design, implementation, evaluation, and communication pathway. The focus is on gender training linked to practice and change within institutions and national policies.
The overall objective of the course is to enhance the participants’ capacity to design, conduct, and communicate gender-responsive agricultural research. For more information, please see www.greatagriculture.org
About the Tropical Legumes-III Project
The Tropical Legumes III project (TL-III) is a major international initiative that seeks to develop and deliver seed of improved cultivars of common bean, cowpea, chickpea and groundnut at scale to small-holders, while also fundamentally strengthening plant breeding programs to generate increased rates of genetic gains. These plant breeding programs include three in the CGIAR (CIAT, IITA, and ICRISAT), 7 NARS in African countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda) and one in India in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
TL-III integrates the genomic resources developed in the Tropical Legumes-phase I (TLI) with the applied breeding and seed delivery initiatives of Tropical phase II (TL-II). TL-III puts increased emphasis on improving the national breeding and seed delivery programs through a structured improvement process. More information can be found here: http://tropicallegumes.icrisat.org/
Please follow @MakCAES on twitter and the hashtag #GREATTLIIICourse for updates on the training.
Report compiled by;
Jane Anyango,
Principal Communication Officer,
College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, CAES
Makerere University.
Makerere University has urged female students admitted under the Makerere University Council Tuition and Functional Fees Waiver Scholarship for the 2026/27 academic year to take the opportunity seriously, focus on their academic performance, and stay alert about their personal safety.
The message was delivered during an orientation for the scholarship beneficiaries at the Senate Conference Hall, where officials from the Gender Mainstreaming Directorate welcomed the students and shared guidance on academic success, security, mentorship, and responsible social conduct.
The Chief Gender Mainstreaming Officer cautions students on safety and self-reliance
Dr. Euzobia Mugisha Baine, Chief Gender Mainstreaming Officer, congratulated the students on receiving the scholarship and urged them not to take it for granted.
She advised them to seek information from the relevant university offices instead of relying on assumptions or what fellow students tell them, and to keep records of official communication whenever they raise concerns or follow up on university matters.
Dr. Baine said students should take responsibility for their own security, warning them not to trust strangers easily and urging them to be careful about where they go and who they interact with.
She also reminded them that strong academic performance is required to keep the scholarship, and encouraged them to ask for help early whenever they face academic, social, or other challenges instead of waiting until the situation becomes harder to manage.
Dr. Tukahirwa urges students to aim for first-class results
Dr. Lillian Tukahirwa welcomed the students and encouraged them to put their studies first, urging them to aim for first-class academic results during their time at Makerere.
She advised them to use the academic support available to them, including help from course mates and any tutorials or mentoring offered within their colleges, and not to hesitate to seek assistance when they have concerns about their results or coursework.
Dr. Tukahirwa also spoke about personal safety, cautioning students against accepting help from strangers, including with luggage or transport, and referred to a recent incident in which a student’s belongings were stolen. She urged them to stay alert as they settled into university life.
Other speakers stress academic foundations and safe social conduct
Other speakers, including Ms. Susan Mbabazi, who is the Principal Gender Officer, Ms. Abilat Lozirah, and Cynthia Ayaa Kamaketch emphasised the need to build a strong academic foundation from the start of the semester. They encouraged students to attend lectures regularly, read beyond classroom notes, use university resources such as internet access and the library, and develop steady study habits instead of waiting until exams are near.
They also warned students to be careful when meeting people they do not know well, advising them to hold academic discussions and social meetings in open, public spaces such as Freedom Square rather than in private rooms.
The students were also encouraged to seek mentorship from university staff and others who could guide them in their academic and career development, and to identify a mentor before leaving the orientation.
The orientation also pointed students to key university services and locations they should know, including the university health facilities, the Makerere Police Post, the Counselling and Guidance Centre, and places of worship on campus.
Speakers reminded the students that the scholarship gives them a chance to pursue their education at Makerere University, and that keeping it depends on their discipline, academic performance, and willingness to seek support when needed.
By Gerald Ochwo
On Friday 18th September 2026, the Department of the Academic Registrar, Makerere University, held a befitting farewell ceremony in honour of Mr. Charles Ssentongo and Ms. Betty Akoli, who have retired from University service upon attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60 years.
Mr. Ssentongo retires as Deputy Academic Registrar in charge of Undergraduate Admissions and Records, after 26 years of dedicated service to the University, a journey he began in 2000. Ms. Akoli retires as Assistant Academic Registrar.
The farewell, held in the Senate Building Conference Hall, was presided over by Ms. Prossie Nakayiki, the Acting Academic Registrar, and was attended by members of the Senior Management Team and staff of the Academic Registrar’s Department.
In recognition of their distinguished and spotless service, the two retirees were awarded institutional plaques and assorted gifts from the Department and individual members of staff.
Mr. Ssentongo and Ms. Akoli’s retirement follows that of other senior members of the Department, including Mrs. Patience Mushengyezi, who retired earlier this year.
The Department of the Academic Registrar remains deeply indebted to Mr. Ssentongo and Ms. Akoli for their highly committed, exemplary, and dedicated service to Makerere University. We wish them a happy, healthy, and fulfilling retirement.
We celebrate you.
More photos from the event: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjD5btz
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