Chair of Department Message

The Department of Land and Water Management is one of the founding three departments of the School of Agriculture after the Embu Agricultural Staff Training (EAST) College was upgraded to Embu University College, a Constituent College of the University of Nairobi, following the Legal Notice No. 65 of 2011. The department started with five academic staff which has since risen to seven. The main objective of the department is to produce graduates with a competitive edge ready to face employment market in the areas of land, water resources and environmental management, locally and globally. The initial programmes on offer were BSc. Water Resources Management and BSc. in Management of Agroecosystems and Environment. There were a total of eighteen students in the 2013/14 enrollment, admitted through JAB, the predecessor of KUCCPS.

There are currently seven academic members of staff and one field technician besides a dedicated team of five executive administrative staff. Among the teaching staff are three PhD holders, one assistant lecturer (AL) and three tutorial fellows (TFs). The TA and TFs are at advanced stages towards completing their doctoral studies. Apart from teaching and conduction research, the lecturers have different management roles within and outside the department. The administrative staff are also provide services to the other two sister departments.
The student enrollment has risen from eighteen in the 2013/14 to about one hundred and fifty in the 2016/17 academic year, a bulk of whom are pursuing the two undergraduate programmes mentioned above. The department graduated sixteen students, eight from each of the two programmes during the first ever graduation of Embu University College held on September 29, 2016.

The department is proud to report that each programme had a student with First Class Honors, among the four produced by the University College in 2016 graduation. The department has equally contributed in terms of organization, participation and realization of milestones that contributed to the Award of Charter making the institution a fully-fledged university, University of Embu, on October 7, 2016. This included development of new programs now on offer and being mounted by the department. The graduate programmes currently running are: PhD in Management of Agroecosystems and Environment, MSc in Soil Science and MSc in Land and Water Management. The programmes ready for mounting include PhD in Land and Water Management, PhD in Soil Science, MSc in Management of Agro ecosystems and Environment and BSc in Environmental Science (proposed).

The department aggressively participates in research work as exemplified by a number of publications in refereed journals by the teaching staff. Learners are also exposed to both theory and practical skills in the respective academic disciplines pursued. To properly manage the teaching workload, the department hopes to make more recruitment. The department of Land and Water Management also participates in extra-curricular and events geared towards social corporate responsibility. Members off staff also participate in local and international conferences and workshops to showcase innovations and findings of research work.
The department of Land and Water Management plans to introduce more market driven programmes within its core area of expertise. Equally the department plans to expand its mandate by splitting to form new departments, the following being priority study areas: Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Soil Science, Department of Agricultural Engineering and, Department of Water Systems and Hydrology.
The department of LWM is therefore the department of choice. Welcome all and join the winning team in training, research and extension service provision to humanity.

Dr. Rebecca Yegon,
Chair, Department of Land and Water Management