RUFORUM Member Universities

The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), a consortium of 29 universities in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. Below are the member universities.

Africa University, Zimbabwe
At the 1988 General Conference, United Methodists overwhelmingly accepted the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry's proposal to begin the university. On April 6, 1991, thousands of people from throughout Zimbabwe watched as the groundbreaking ceremony took place and one acacia tree was planted at the Old Mutare Mission site of Africa University.

Egerton University, Kenya: Egerton University was founded in 1939 and was originally named Egerton Farm School. It was established by a large land grant of 740 acres by Lord Maurice Egerton of Tatton. The school's original purpose was to prepare white European youth for careers in agriculture.By 1955, the name had changed to Egerton Agricultural College. A one-year certificate course and a two-year diploma course in agriculture were offered. In 1958, Lord Egerton donated another 1,100 acres of land.Soon afterward, the college opened its doors to people of all races from Kenya and other African countries. In 1987, the College was finally recognized as a Chartered Public University.

Eduardo Mondlane University Mozambique
The institution was set up as a center for higher education in 1962 in what was then Lourenço Marques, the capital of Portugal's overseas province of Mozambique. Founded by the time of Overseas Provinces Minister Adriano Moreira, it was called Estudos Gerais Universitários de Moçambique (Mozambique General University Studies) after Studium Generale; in 1968 it became the Universidade de Lourenço Marques (University of Lourenço Marques). After Mozambique became independent in 1975, the city was renamed "Maputo" and the university was renamed in honor of Frelimo leader Eduardo Mondlane in 1976.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
JKUAT is a public university near Nairobi, Kenya. It is situated in Juja, 36 kilometres North East of Nairobi, along Nairobi-Thika Highway. It offers courses in Engineering, Science, Architecture and Building sciences. The university has a strong research interest in the areas of biotechnology and engineering.

Kenyatta University, Kenya
The University traces it history to a colonial military barracks known as the Templer Barracks. In 1965 Templer Barracks was converted into Kenyatta College, primarily a teacher training institution(majorly S1 graduates). Kenyatta college was then elevated to a constituent college of the University of Nairobi in 1970. In 1985 the university college was incorporated by the then president, Daniel arap Moi and was renamed Kenyatta University.

Makerere University, Uganda
Established in 1922 as a humble technical school, Makerere University is one of the oldest and most prestigious Universities in Africa. In January of that year, the school, which was later renamed Uganda Technical College, opened its doors to14 day students who began studying Carpentry, Building and Mechanics.

Moi University, Kenya
Moi University is located in Eldoret, 310 kilometres northwest of Nairobi, the Capital City of Kenya. It was established as the second university in Kenya by an Act of Parliament, the Moi University Act of 1984.The University currently operates four campuses, namely: Main, Chepkoilel, Town, and Eldoret West Campus. The university has two (2) constituent colleges, (Kabianga and Narok) and eight (8) Satellite Campuses, (Nairobi, Kitale, Kericho, Southern Nyanza, Central Kenya, Mombasa, Odera Akang'o Northern Kenya campus).

Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
The history of Sokoine University of Agriculture dates back to 1965 when it started as an Agricultural College offering diploma training in the discipline of agriculture. With the dissolution of the University of East Africa and the consequent establishment of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in July 1970, the College was transformed into a Faculty of Agriculture of UDSM and thereby started offering Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.

Gulu University, Uganda: The Gulu University Establishment Instrument, spells out the university’s vision and mission respectively in the Schedule thereto, namely: “ … to be the leading academic institution for the promotion of rural transformation and industrialization for sustainable development”, and “to expand access to higher education, conduct applied research and provide quality professional training to the delivery of appropriate services directed towards social transformation and conservation of bio-diversity.”

Haramaya University, Ethiopia
Haramaya University (formerly known as Alemaya University) is one of the oldest universities in Ethiopia. It is located in Alemaya, a town in the Misraq Hararghe Zone, about 20 kilometers from the city of Harar and 40 kilometers from Dire Dawa. The university was founded with the help of Oklahoma State University, accepting its first students in 1954, and the new campus was opened in January 1958 by Emperor Haile Selassie. Haramaya University was promoted from a college within Addis Ababa University on May 27, 1985 to an independent university.

Kordofan University, Sudan: The University of Kordofan is a university in Sudan. The school is located southwest of Khartoum, in Al-Ubayyid, the capital of North Kurdufan state. It was established in 1990. Elobeid, the  (650 Km) north-west Khartoum. The area of Kordofan has a fragile natural resource base. Desertification and soil degradation are very active and of a large influence of people livelihood in the area. The University has been initiated since 1990.

Kyambogo University, Uganda: Kyambogo University is a relatively new University created with the main aim of promoting and advancing knowledge and development of skills in Science, Technology and Education and such other fields having regards for quality, equity, progress and transformation of society.

Mekelle University, Ethiopia: Mekelle University is found at the town of Mekelle in Tigray region of Northern Ethiopia , at a distance of 783 Kilometers from the Ethiopian capital. The merger the two former colleges: Mekelle Business College and Mekelle University College established the University in May 2000 by the Government of Ethiopia (Council of Ministers, Regulations No. 61/1999 of Article 3) as an autonomous higher education institution.

National University of Rwanda: The National University of Rwanda (NUR; French: Université nationale du Rwanda) is the largest university in Rwanda in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government in cooperation with the Congregation of the Dominicans from the Province of Quebec. When it was established, the NUR had three divisions (Faculties of Medicine and Social Sciences, and a Teacher Training College), 51 students and 16 lecturers. By 2005, the university had 8221 students and 425 lecturers.

National University of Burundi: The University of Burundi is located in Bujumbura, Burundi. It is the only public university in Burundi. In 1989, these institutions were integrated into the University of Burundi. The major objective of this integration was to optimize the use of the resources allocated to higher education. In the process of integration, the School of Commerce changed its name to become the Institute of Commerce.At the beginning of 1980s, four other non-university higher education institutions were created to train the technical staff required by the civil service.

Uganda Martyrs University
UMU is located at, Nkozi, a small town, approximately 84 kilometres (52 mi), by road, west of Kampala, the capital and largest city in Uganda, on the Kampala-Masaka Highway. The university was established in October 1993 with 84 students and two academic departments, namely the Institute of Ethics and Development Studies and the Faculty of Business Administration and Management. Total, the university consists of eight (8) Faculties, one (1) Institute, four (4) Centers, five (5) Departments and two (2) Schools.

Université catholique de Bukavu
L’université a été officiellement créée le 21 novembre 1989 par décret de l’archevêque de Bukavu. Le 15 novembre 1990, elle ouvre ses portes aux étudiants.Le 11 septembre 1991, un arrêté autorise le fonctionnement de l’Université en tant qu’institution d’enseignement supérieur. En 1992, les facultés de Médecine et des Sciences Économiques sont ouvertes, suivies, deux ans plus tard, par la faculté de Droit.A ce jour, mai 2007, l'université compte cinq facultés : Agronomie, Droit, Economie et Gestion, Médecine et Sciences (informatique de gestion). Sa population étudiante est d'approximativement 1.500 étudiants.

University of Botswana
The University of Botswana, or UB was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. TThe University of Botswana will be a leading academic centre of excellence in Africa and the world. The Mission of the University of Botswana is to improve economic and social conditions for the Nation while advancing itself as a distinctively African university with a regional and international outlook.

University of Lesotho
The National University of Lesotho is situated at Roma (pop.8,000) some 34 kilometers south-east of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The Roma valley is broad and is surrounded by a barrier of rugged mountains which provides magnificent sceneryThe origins of the National University of Lesotho go back to April 8, 1945, when a Catholic University College was founded at Roma by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy of Southern Africa.

The University of Gezira
The University Of Gezira (U.of.G) was established in 1975 by a presidential decree at Wad Madni City in central Sudan. The university is close to one of the biggest agricultural projects in Africa - the Gezira Project. The school's main objective is to supply the project with high caliber graduates.It is considered to be one of the leading universities in Sudan. It is famous for its school of medicine and agriculture. The former has adopted a modern form of medical education based on problem-solving.

University of Swaziland
The University of Swaziland developed from the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (UBLS), formerly known as the University of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland (UBBS), which had its headquarters in Lesotho between 1964 and 1975. The UBBS had developed from the Pius XII Catholic University College at Roma - itself the product of a long-held desire for an institution of higher learning for Africans, of the Catholic hierarchy in Southern Africa.

University of Malawi: The idea that Malawi should have a University was first conceived soon after the country got its independence in 1964. In October 1964, the University of Malawi was founded under the University of Malawi (Provisional Council) Act which was later replaced by the University of Malawi Act of 1974. The Act was further amended in 1998. Teaching started on 29th September 1965 at the newly established campus which used to be an Asian Secondary School in Blantyre.

University of Nairobi, Kenya
The University of Nairobi (UON) is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: Makerere University in Uganda, the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and the University of Nairobi. In 2002 the University had some 22,000 students, of whom 17,200 were undergraduates and 4,800 postgraduates.

University of Zambia
The University of Zambia is Zambia's largest university, founded in 1966. It has a student population of about 10,000. Its main campus-the Great East Road Campus- is located on the Great East Road, about 7 km from Lusaka City. It also has the Ridgeway Campus within Lusaka City located at the University Teaching Hospital (famously called UTH); this campus specifically houses students pursuing medical and pharmacological courses.

University of Zimbabwe: The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) in Harare, is the oldest and largest university in Zimbabwe. It was founded through a special relationship with the University of London and it opened its doors to its first students in 1952. The university has ten faculties offering a wide variety of degree programmes and many specialist research centres and institutes. The university is accredited through the National Council for Higher Education, under the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education. English is the language of instruction. Although once a very successful university, UZ has declined and was closed for much of 2008.

University of Juba, The University of Juba, Sudan: After the Addis Ababa Agreement, the first practical steps in establishing a University in Juba were taken by the Regional Government when a University of Juba Project was formed in 1973. The Project was chaired by the Regional Minister of Education, and Dr. Joseph Awad Morgan, as its Director, made internal and external efforts to outline the general philosophy and objective of the University.  In 1975, the President of the Republic, His Excellency, Gaffar Mohammad Nimeri decreed the establishment of the University of Juba and on the 9th. November 1975, its Act came into force. The Act simultaneously established the College of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies and the College of Social and Economic Studies. In 1977 the Council of the University established the College of Education and the College of Adult Education and Training. In 1978, the College of Medicine was also established by the Council.

Mzuzu University: The University of Mzuzu in Malawi: In July 1994, after the government had studied the problems inherent in the delivery of tertiary education in the country, the former President of The Republic of Malawi, His Excellency Dr. Bakili Muluzi, decided that a new University should be established and that it should be located in the Northern Region. Thereafter, the President appointed the Commission for the Establishment of the University in the North (COMESUN) and directed the commissioners to gather the opinions of a cross-section of the Malawian population in the three regions on the feasibility, practicality and viability of establishing such an institution.The commission heard views from politicians, traditional and religious leaders, academicians, professional experts, government officials and the ordinary people in the rural areas.

Catholic University of Mozambique: The Catholic University of Mozambique (UCM) in Mozambique perceives itself as a bona fide university community, guided by the principles of truth and human respect, based on Christian thinking, ideas and values. UCM principal mission is to prepare young people to acquire the knowledge and develop themselves to master contemporary life in Mozambique, thus contributing actively to the moral and socio-economic development of the country and its communities. Therefore, UCM promotes, develops, produces and preserves the integral education and ethics of the human being. As a higher education institution, UCM is the central reference point in the centre and north of the country in training professionals committed to life and progress of the Mozambican society who are also capable of responding adequately to the complex challenges of the global world.