PhD Dry Land Agriculture and Resource Management PhD/DPhil

The Arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) make upto about 80% of Kenya‘s total land mass. The ASALs is characterized by limited and unreliable rainfall, fragile soils and relatively high temperature. Currently, the ASALs are largely underutilized for economic benefit of the local communities and the country at large. It is against this background that a curriculum on Dryland Agriculture and Resources Management has been developed as a strategy for building on human capital to harness the available resources for economic benefit. The curriculum will produce graduates with in-depth understanding of dryland ecosystem, biodiversity in the ASALs, community livelihood and socio-cultural system, resources in ASALs, biotic and abiotic challenges, and innovations to harness resources to improve life in the ASALs.There is need for adequate management of resources in the ASAls to stimulate economic growth, improve livelihood and maintain healthy bio ecological co-existence. Proper management of dryland could stimulate economic growth with expected reduction in poverty. Besides, Kenya‘s vision 2030 emphasizes the importance of the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) as an important component in the economic pillar. The has planned to utilize some 24 million hectares for livestock production and expand crop production through irrigation on some 9.2 million hectares in the ASAL.The Government plan in ―Strategy for Revitalization of Agriculture for 2004-2014‖ also recognizes the importance of agriculture in national growth and development and commits to expand agriculture production in ASALs through expanding irrigation.These can be realized by investing in a focused training of personnel capable of identifying opportunities and resources for utilization and development in the drylands. The PhD curriculum in Dryland and Resources Management is designed to address this need.