International Research: Ethiopia

Cornell / Bahir Dar MPS Degree Program
with a Specialization in Watershed Management

Representatives of Cornell University and Bahir Dar University (BDU) in Ethiopia recently signed a memorandum of understanding to offer a Master’s of Professional Studies (MPS) degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development with a specialization in Integrated Watershed Management [see information brochure for details] at BDU. Approximately one hundred Ethiopian students took a qualifying exam in August and will be notified by mid-September of whether they are among the twenty students who will be accepted. Classes are scheduled to begin at the beginning of November, 2007.

The program will be offered entirely in Ethiopia at Bahir Dar University, but students will receive degrees from Cornell. Cornell faculty will travel to Ethiopia to offer courses in 3-week blocks with faculty from BDU. Cornell and BDU faculty will jointly supervise students’ research/development projects. The interdisciplinary program will include courses in engineering, agriculture, management and the social sciences to provide students with the skills needed to manage watersheds. Each student must complete 24 credits of course work and a research or development practicum (6 credits) to receive the MPS degree. Bahir Dar’s location on the shores of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile in a largely agricultural area make it an ideal site for research and development projects on watershed management.

Faculty and administrators from Cornell and BDU have worked for several years to develop this degree program that was approved by the General Committee of the Graduate College last spring.

For more information contact:
- Tammo Steenhuis, professor of Biological and Environmental Engineering
- Alice Pell, Professor of Animal Science and CIIFAD Director

Cornell / Bahir Dar MPS Degree Program with a Specialization in Watershed Management at CIIFAD

See also the recent Cornell Chronicle Article!

The AMAREW Project

From 2002-2004, Cornell University was responsible for the watershed component in the USAID-funded project known as Amhara Microenterprise Development, Agricultural Research, Extension & Watershed Management Project (AMAREW). This project was designed to improve food security in drought-prone areas of Ethiopia.

The outreach component has sought to assist communities by training networks of community leaders in the appropriate management of their watersheds. Tangible results from these colloborations are grazing area restrictions, gully rehabilitation (physical and biological), and hillside soil conservation structures.

The research component has been directed toward understanding the hydrology of these watersheds. The primary agricultural constraint in the highlands of Ethiopia is that ~50-70% of the rainfall runs off the hillsides, stripping topsoil from the land and carving out enormous gullies. Since irrigation is not feasible, Ethiopia's best hope for increasing food production is increasing the efficiency of rainfall harvesting. By capturing more of the rainfall in the soil, water will be made available to crops during the critical dry periods and soil erosion reduced.