Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and Belgium’s Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) have reaffirmed their commitment to expand a long-standing partnership into a broad, multidisciplinary research collaboration.
The new direction was highlighted during a courtesy visit to JKUAT Vice Chancellor, Prof. Victoria Wambui Ngumi, by a delegation from VUB led by Rector Prof. Jan Danckaert. Both institutions agreed on the need to extend research engagement beyond agriculture into additional academic fields.
VUB is a key partner in the VLIR-UOS-funded Legume Centre of Excellence for Food, Nutrition, and Security (LCEFONS), launched in 2017 with JKUAT and KU Leuven.
JKUAT currently leads two of the four LCEFONS projects, focusing on Legume Breeding and ICT in Legume Research.
The meeting offered a platform to review tangible outcomes of the partnership, including joint support for PhD and MSc students, enhanced research infrastructure such as Level 2 Biosafety Laboratory and a modern computer lab, increased scholarly publications and ongoing staff and student exchanges.
Prof. Ngumi emphasized that these achievements align with JKUAT’s strategic objective of becoming a research-driven university.
“Partnerships like this build capacity, open new opportunities, and elevate the quality of scholarship produced by our faculty and students,” she said.
She added that insights from a recent JKUAT delegation’s visit to Belgium are already informing a review of the university’s Income Generating Units policy.
Prof. Jan Danckaert praised the long-standing relationship between the two universities and underscored the importance of sustained collaboration amid shrinking resources.
“We are proud of the successes this partnership has achieved and look forward to deepening our engagement. In times of constrained resources, we must collaborate strategically while innovating in funding approaches to maintain momentum,” he said.
The VUB delegation expressed interest in broadening collaboration to disciplines including humanities, physics, chemistry, engineering, and computational research.
