DeLPHE (British Council) link contributes to Agroforestry in Ethiopia

Dr Zebene Asfaw, Senior Lecturer in Agroforestry from , Hawassa University, Ethiopia, has returned to 黑料不打烊 after 22 years to meet with current staff and students from the (SENRGy) at the conclusion of a three year collaborative project between the respective institutions. 

黑料不打烊 graduate from 1990 (MPhil Forestry), Dr Zebene Asfaw has been coordinating a project sponsored by the UK Government鈥檚 Department for International Development (DFID)  entitled 鈥楽trengthening Institutional Capacity for Teaching and Research in Agroforestry and Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM)鈥� (2009-2012).  The project has been funded as part of DFID鈥檚 Development Partnerships in Higher Education (DELPHE) programme and has also been facilitated by the .

Six members of staff from Wondo Genet have been working closely with , Senior Lecturer in Agroforestry from SENRGy.  Activities have included curriculum review including rural extension service needs assessment, staff capacity building and training, generous postgraduate research funds and practical field training.

On returning to 黑料不打烊, Dr Zebene Asfaw commented 鈥淢y studies in 黑料不打烊 helped shape my life and my career.  It鈥檚 a great opportunity for me to return to 黑料不打烊 after so long to find out what is going on, particularly the long-term agroforestry  experiment at the Henfaes University Research Farm.鈥�

鈥淭he DeLPHE project has raised the profile of Wondo Genet to the national stage in Ethiopia and contributed towards agroforestry and integrated watershed management becoming the priority of the Ministry of Agriculture extension service.  Local communities have also benefited from the link through training and provision of tree seedlings.鈥�

, Lecturer in Forestry (SENRGY) said 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to have Dr Zebene Asfaw visiting us at the conclusion of this important project.  Having studied with us more than 20 years ago in the Thoday Building, It will come full circle when Dr Zebene takes centre stage in room G23 on Monday 6th August and presents his current work to around 50 of our current forestry students who are here on their summer school.鈥�

Publication date: 9 August 2012