SENEGAL

University to host US-funded agricultural research unit
Senegal’s Université Alioune Diop de Bambey will accommodate a regional agriculture centre to revitalise the country’s agricultural potential, with support from a USAID research programme.A working group to establish the centre met at the university in the Diourbel region at the end of April with the aim of setting up an agricultural support system for the public and private sectors. This will entail collaboration between Senegalese universities and participation of USAID ERA, the United States Agency for International Development’s Education and Research in Agriculture project, reported Sud Quotidien of Dakar.
Professor Lamine Gueye, rector of the University of Alioune Diop de Bambey, said: “This working group comes under the remit of the partnership between the University Alioune Diop de Bambey and the programme of agricultural stakeholders in the Diourbel region. Education and strengthening the skills of women, support for projects to raise funding and research into established projects, among others, are equally among areas of interest for this partnership.”
The coordinator of USAID ERA, Yaye Fatou Seck, welcomed the commitment of the university’s teachers, reported Sud Quotidien.
It said the USAID project focused on the priorities identified by the Senegalese government in its ‘Plan for an Emerging Senegal’, which was launched in 2010 to strengthen human resources and ensure that agriculture and food processing become essential elements. – Compiled by Jane Marshall.
This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.