The University of Nairobi’s Director for Research and Enterprise, Professor Thomas Ochuku, has challenged the academic community to align education curricular to cover the challenges and opportunities in the agricultural sector. Speaking when he presided over the official launch of the AgriOPEN project on Monday 26 January 2026 at the University of Nairobi Towers, Prof. Ochuku hailed the project for the emphasis on sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship, which he termed as critical issues for Kenya’s agricultural economy.
The multidisciplinary AgriOPEN project brings together a consortium of local and international research partners whose goal is to expand “access to agricultural education and entrepreneurship for lifelong learning and sustainable national development”. Members of the consortium include higher education institutions (HEIs), Ministry of Education (MoE), (KNQA), and associate partners. One of the highlights of the project is to establish the AgriOPEN Campus (AOC), a digital platform where learners will access competency-based courses in agriculture and entrepreneurship. The courses will be developed jointly by Egerton University, Laikipia University, South-Eastern Kenya University, and the University of Nairobi. The other universities in the consortium are NHL Stenden Uiversity of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) and HAMK University of Applied Sciences (Finland).
“We need to raise awareness about safe handling of agricultural produce, how to detect food contamination, and how to practice sustainable agriculture given the acute shortage of land in Kenya”, Prof. Ochuku said. He urged the project team to innovate around these issues as they prepare learning materials for the AgriOPEN Campus. Other relevant issues to consider were converting agricultural waste into industrial raw materials and value addition of agricultural produce. “Kenya has great potential for agricultural entrepreneurship”, he said.
The Dean, Faculty of Education Prof. Jeremiah Kalai, said that the AGriOPEN project will bridge the gap between research and practice while also expanding access to education in a cost-effective manner. The project is domiciled in the faculty’s Department of Educational and Distance Studies. The department’s chairperson, Prof. Anne Aseey, pledged support for the project.
The University of Nairobi will be responsible for project management and coordination led by Prof. Naomi Mwangi. She said that through the project, universities in Kenya “will reach out to more people and offer them skills and competences for employment, career enhancement, and business development”.
The project is co-funded by the European Union. The associate partners are the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF), Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), and County Government of Kitui.