DR SAMWEL NYAKACH  [Egerton University Profile]

  Chairman of Department,Agricultural Engineering

  Egerton University,
  P.O. Box 536-20115 Egerton, Kenya.

  Email: samwel.nyakach@egerton.ac.ke

The Department of Agricultural Engineering at Egerton University is the pioneer department of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology having moved from the Faculty of agriculture in 1997.  It aims at professional and skills development of students undertaking both undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The department focuses on imparting knowledge and skills with a view to enable the students to be innovative in solving challenges affecting society.

The department offers programmes that cover areas such as Soil and Water Conservation, Farm Power and Machinery, Irrigation, Agricultural Structures, Agricultural Processing, and Renewable energy. For all the above mentioned areas, both the intellectual and research skills are imparted to students in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The programme provides core elements of engineering that are recognised by professional bodies such as Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) and Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) and are crucial in enhancing the performance of the Agricultural sector.

The department supports the Agricultural sector to increase Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product by way of design, formulation and development of appropriate technologies, and well-trained manpower in this sector. The programmes have been designed with emphasis on practical approach incorporating the current advancements in technology to satisfy the technical manpower requirements for the Agricultural Industry and to achieve Kenya’s development goal of industrialisation.

The graduates from this department have been employed in various Government Ministries, Departments and Parastatals as well as in Non-Governmental Organizations, Private sector, and International bodies, among others. In addition, the department has over the years continued to offer services courses to students in other faculties. These courses are designed and moderated taking into consideration the input from various stakeholders and industry feedback hence are periodically reviewed to align them to the current market demands.

It is in view of these developments that we have continued to attract not only students from Kenya but the rest of the world to pursue our very competitive programmes. Of late, our postgraduate programmes have seen enrolments from Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, Malawi, South Sudan among others. We appreciate this gesture and confidence the region has had on our programmes and the entire Egerton University.