Kabale University and Partners get European Commission CBHE grant

Kabale University has been awarded a three-year capacity-building grant funded by the European Commission along with seven other universities. The name of this project is NISHATI, which stands for building capacities in the fields of water, renewable energy, and agriculture to enhance local resilience to climate change in Africa. Sapienza University of Rome coordinates the consortium, and Cadiz University of Spain is the other European partner institution.

The project involves six African partners. The universities include Gulu University in Uganda, University of Technology and Arts in Byumba, Catholic University of Rwanda, University of Mzumbe, and Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. Hydrowatt and Studio Santi Srl are the Italian partner companies in the consortium.  The project aims to develop sustainable energy solutions in Africa. It focuses on renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and hydropower.

The major objective of the NISHATI project is to improve and increase the educational offer at six African universities in the field of eco-agriculture, water management and green energy for agriculture, as well as acquiring transversal skills, particularly those related to business and the development of new economies, which will assist in the establishment of a network of stakeholders, thus increasing professional competitiveness. A multidisciplinary team of faculty members from Kabale University’s faculties of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Economics & Management Sciences, and Engineering, Technology, Applied Design & Fine Art are working on the project.

The team leader for the KAB project is Godfrey Sempungu. In his remarks, he expresses a great deal of optimism that the project will provide an important transformation in support of value addition in agriculture, water resource use and value chain improvement. To address the arising challenges in the world today, he emphasized the need for a multidisciplinary approach and a breakaway from silos. In addition to being KAB’s first EU project, it will also act as a springboard for regional expansion into the Great Lakes region as it is the first project that involves multiple regional universities. The goal is to bring together several stakeholders involved in the transformation of the community.

Researcher at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Sapienza University of Rome, Katiuscia Cipri, who is the project manager, expressed optimism that NISHATI will be able to provide the much-needed intervention. As the partners implement the NISHATI project, Luca Busetto, the Project Advisor from EACEA, advised them to focus on quality outputs. As a result, the project will have a lasting impact as well as achieve its objectives.