Kampala 06 October, 2020 The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), is pleased to announce the beneficiaries of the fourth cohort of the Mastercard@RUFORUM (MCF@RUFORUM) scholarship recipients for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Since July 2016, RUFORUM, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, Gulu University and Egerton University are implementing an eight year programme; Transforming African Agricultural Universities to meaningfully contribute to Africa’s growth and development (TAGDev) that aims at transforming African agricultural universities and their graduates to better respond to development challenges through enhanced application of science, technology, business and innovation for rural agricultural transformation. This eight year project will support the training of 220 (110 undergraduate and 110 postgraduate) economically disadvantaged students from across Africa. The Programme further provides opportunities for transformative action research using the expanded RUFORUM Community Action Research Programme (CARP+) to enhance university-led community impact and the RUFORUM Agricultural Enterprises Challenge Program (RECAP), which aims at developing a critical number of young business leaders by providing a supporting environment.
This 2020 Call for Masters scholarships awarded a total of thirty (30) scholarships to applicants from 11 African countries (Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The call was competitive as it attracted 693 applicants from 25 African countries. After a rigorous four stage selection process involving pre-admission into the university, shortlisting for scholarship assessment, and phone interviews, the RUFORUM Technical Committee made the final selection during its virtual meeting convened on 02nd October 2020. Of the 30 scholarships, 17 were awarded to females, accounting for 57% of the recipients.
RUFORUM thanks all applicants and congratulates the 30 scholarship recipients. See below the full list of the selected beneficiaries/awardees.
Information about RUFORUM First MCF Cohort can be found through this Link
2020/2021 TAGDev scholarship beneficiaries
Gulu University
| ID | Surname | First name | Gender | Country | Degree |
| 2020 | ANE | KEVIN | FEMALE | UGANDA | Master of Science in Food Security and Community Nutrition |
| 2019 | KILAMA | GODFREY | MALE | UGANDA | Master of Science in Food Security and Community Nutrition |
| 2013 | KISEBE | LILIAN | FEMALE | UGANDA | Master of Science in Food Security and Community Nutrition |
| 2016 | OKIA | LAZARUS | MALE | UGANDA | Master of Science in Food Security and Community Nutrition |
| 2014 | NEKESA | RHODAH | FEMALE | KENYA | Master of Science in Food Security and Community Nutrition |
| 2030 | OTOO | DOUGLAS | MALE | UGANDA | Master of Science in Agri-Enterprises Development |
| 2031 | MUGISHA | RUTH | FEMALE | UGANDA | Master of Science in Agri-Enterprises Development |
| 2025 | MUNEZERO | ELIAS | MALE | BURUNDI | Master of Science in Agri-Enterprises Development |
| 2023 | ADEWALE | CALEB | MALE | NIGERIA | Master of Science in Agri-Enterprises Development |
| 2032 | MADRAA | GRACE | FEMALE | UGANDA | Master of Science in Agri-Enterprises Development |
| 2024 | JOHN | NEEMA | FEMALE | TANZANIA | Master of Science in Agri-Enterprises Development |
| 2037 | ABI ABDI | AHMED | MALE | SOMALIA | Master of Science in Animal Production and Marketing |
| 2034 | WOOR | SYLVIA | FEMALE | UGANDA | Master of Science in Animal Production and Marketing |
| 2041 | CHEA, JR | LLOYD | MALE | LIBERIA | Master of Science in Environmental Science and Natural Resources Management |
| 2039 | SOKONI | CHALWE | FEMALE | ZAMBIA | Master of Science in Environmental Science and Natural Resources Management |
Egerton University
| ID | Surname | First name | Gender | Country | Degree |
| 2206 | KUNDU | RUTH | FEMALE | KENYA | Master of Science Agri-enterprise Development |
| 2205 | MUNYENTWARI | JOSEPH | MALE | RWANDA | Master of Science Agri-enterprise Development |
| 2204 | NYAKAPENE | NAVISON | MALE | ZIMBABWE | Master of Science Agri-enterprise Development |
| 2209 | NTABO | AGNES | FEMALE | KENYA | Master of Science Agri-enterprise Development |
| 2207 | ONYANGO | LILIAN | FEMALE | KENYA | Master of Science Agri-enterprise Development |
| 2218 | MUTUA | ELVIS | MALE | KENYA | Master of Science Horticulture |
| 2219 | EMARU | ANTHONY | MALE | UGANDA | Master of Science Horticulture |
| 2215 | KWIZERA | ENOCK | MALE | RWANDA | Master of Science Horticulture |
| 2211 | OTIENO | CONSTANCE | FEMALE | KENYA | Master of Science Horticulture |
| 2217 | WAMBUGU | WINNIE | FEMALE | KENYA | Master of Science Horticulture |
| 2228 | NEKESA | PRAXIDES | FEMALE | KENYA | Master of Science natural resources management |
| 2224 | OCHOLLA | JEMIMAH | FEMALE | KENYA | Master of Science natural resources management |
| 2223 | CHUI | PETRA | FEMALE | CAMEROON | Master of Science natural resources management |
| 2221 | NYIRAMYUYEKURE | VERENE | FEMALE | RWANDA | Master of Science natural resources management |
| 2229 | CHEPKOR | MICHAEL | MALE | KENYA | Master of Science natural resources management |
About RUFORUM:
The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), is a consortium of 129 African universities operating in 38 countries on the continent with a mission to ‘strengthen the capacities of Universities to foster innovations responsive to demands of smallholder farmers through the training of high quality researchers, the output of impact oriented research and the maintenance of collaborative working relations among researchers, farmers, national agricultural research institutions’. RUFORUM was established by Vice Chancellors in 2004 with a Secretariat hosted at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. In 2014 RUFORUM signed a MoU with the African Union Commission to support implementation of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2024) Priority One on reducing poverty and ensuring food and nutrition security. RUFORUM has supported the training of 1958 MSc and 536 PhD graduates, of whom 98% work in their countries or region, the generation of over 300 agricultural technologies and mobilized over US$214.9 million for strengthening postgraduate education in Africa. Please visit www.ruforum.org for more information.
About Mastercard Foundation
The MasterCard Foundation works with visionary organizations to provide greater access to education, skills training and financial services for people living in poverty, primarily in Africa. As one of the largest, private foundations, its work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. Based in Toronto, Canada, its independence was established by MasterCard when the Foundation was created in 2006. For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit www.mastercardfdn.org. Follow the Foundation at @MCFoundation and read more about matercard@RUFORUM
For additional information, photos and interviews, contact the Corporate Communications, and Advocacy officer below.
Contacts:
| Name: Maureen Agena | Corporate Communications, & Advocacy officer | Email: communications@ruforum.org m.agena@ruforum.org |
Good evening. Am very grateful for the award of this scholarship. Indeed it’s a source of hope unto me. Am glad that I’ll now proceed to masters and even beyond. May you continue endorsing those who are financially crippled that they too may have a bright future as far as education is concerned. # Jemimah Achieng
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It is a milestone in the development of Africa especially the youth from disadvantaged communities
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