Representatives of three Chinese Universities on Tuesday July 30, visited Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and held talks with the administration. The delegation from Gansu Agricultural University, China Agricultural University and Northwest A&F University discussed possible areas of collaboration with JKUAT.

While receiving the delegation, Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Administration and Finance, Prof. Bernard Ikua said that JKUAT is the only agricultural and technical public university in Kenya, making it an ideal partner for the three Chinese universities; all of which have specializations in agriculture.

Prof. Ikua noted that JKUAT currently has over 1000 staff pursuing research in some 23 thematic areas. He added that JKUAT’s specialization in agriculture provides a good backdrop for targeted collaboration with universities from China and other countries.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor further informed the visiting team that JKUAT also hosts of the Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences Technology and Innovation as well as the Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre – making JKUAT an ideal institution in forging collaboration with continental impacts.

Prof. Lingling Li from Gansu Agricultural University said that the visiting teams had great desire to formalize research partnerships as well as student and staff exchanges with JKUAT. She added that her university had a number of opportunities, including scholarships that could facilitate intercultural exchanges and friendship between Kenyan and Chinese people.

The Chinese delegation also held discussions with the staff from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and visited field experiment sites at JKUAT.

On hand to receive the visitors at JKUAT with Prof. Ikua were: Prof. Jackson Kwanza DVC, Research, Production and Extension; Prof. Daniel Sila, Principal, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Prof. George Thiong’o, Principal College of Pure and Applied Sciences, among others.