Abstract:

Over the last decade, climate change induced water vulnerability and uncertainty have negatively affected agricultural performance in both Uganda and Kenya. Climate change induced water vulnerability and uncertainty jeopardizes food security with greater risk to rural population which largely depends on rain-fed smallholder farming. The involvement of public and private development actors has been low in addressing this calamity. Universities have been criticised for not being responsive in the development domain including in the area of water resources and climate change threats. Through experiences gained from interaction with communities and other institutions, universities are able to make their curricula and research relevant, improve the teaching/learning approaches and enhance the competence of their graduates in problems of climate change. The "WATERCAP" project, seeks to establish partnerships between universities (Makerere University, Egerton University and BOKU) with development actors and the community focused on efficient water use to contribute to mitigation of climate change induced water vulnerability and uncertainty in small holder agriculture in Uganda and Kenya. Through this partnership, the universities and their partners will strengthen their capacities in addressing climate change induced water vulnerability and uncertainty.

Through this partnership, there is envisioned improvement in the relevance of curricula and research, innovations, mutual learning, knowledge and appropriate technology exchange between farmers, universities and other actors in the agricultural value chain. To achieve increased innovation capacity through partnerships for outreach, research and training, the project addresses the following specific areas:

1. Assessment of internal and external constraints and opportunities for effective partnerships between universities, development agencies and community for mitigation of climate change induced water vulnerability and uncertainties in rural areas.
2. Initiate and manage partnerships between universities, development agencies, policy makers at various levels and farmer groups for mutual learning on efficient water use in smallholder agriculture through water innovation platforms.
3. Reviewing and updating curricula, improving training approaches, and procedures for demand-driven based on lessons learnt
4. Development of strategies for sustainable partnerships between universities and the development actors for addressing climate change induced water vulnerability and uncertainties in smallholder farming.

This academic partnership project brings together three universities and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture – RUFORUM. RUFORUM, with its wide organizational, networking and coordination experience, is coordinating and overseeing the implementation of the project.

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Commissioned by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC)