On the 7th of July 2021, delegates of the Higher Education Excellence projects in Eastern and Southern Africa paid two days visit of ACE Climate SABC project at Haramaya University. The project coordinator of Higher Education Excellence at the level of Eastern and Southern Africa, Jonathan Mwambo and Communication Officer Mrs Agnes Asiimwe have visited the center with the objective of examining the performance of the project implementation and conditions of its sustainability.
During their visit, they have discussed with leaders of Africa center for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity conservation at Haramaya University. In their discussions, they were concerned with issues of financial systems and use of grants by the World Bank for effective implementation of the project’s activities that would enhance the sustainability of the project. The deputy center leader, Dr. Bobe Bedadi and Project manager, Dr. Mulugeta Damie have told the delegates that they are doing their best to improve the financial systems of the center and generations of income by working with partners in the coming years. They told to the delegates that there are some inconveniences in using full percentages of annual budget they plan that is to be resolved in the coming academic year.
The center leaders say, this year, they have fully worked on two important activities: University Bench marking and installation of Video Conference room which is a latest technology. The delegates also say that they have observed encouraging performances regardless of limited use of full grants that are planned at year basis. The delegates are also impressed by the installation of the video conference that would accommodate about 40 students at one room and many more from the outside connected in an online platform.
The delegates have visited PhD students’ field and lab works that have actually made the implementations of the project so live and interesting. They have also visited the regional students’ apartments buildings, and have already noticed that the apartments would accommodate 60 more students at a time and this could be one of the main reasons Haramaya University is preferred for students interested in its area of excellence. The students have told to the delegates that Haramaya University is one of the ideal places for scholarship in Africa, and they feel happy to the opportunity.
Finally, the delegates expressed that they are very happy about the spirit of Haramaya University for scholarship and very optimistic about the project’s sustainability, suggesting that activities of the center should be communicated very well using different communication platforms to support the condition of the sustainability of the project, be it under the world Bank or through securing other sources of grants.