EGERTON
UNIVERSITY
Speech By The Vice Chancellor Prof. Isaac O. Kibwage During The Kenya National Research Festival
Venue: Main Campus, Njoro
Date: Monday, 18th August, 2025
- Mutahi Kagwe, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development;
- Narendra Raval (Guru), Chancellor Egerton;
- Other Vice Chancellors present;
- Susan Kihika, Governor, County Government of Nakuru;
- Dickson Andala, Chief Executive Officer, National Research Fund;
- Abdulrazak Shaukat Principal Secretary, State Department for Science, Research & Innovation;
- Dr Eng. Festus K. Ng'eno, Principal Secretary, Environment and Climate Change;
- Dr Kipronoh Ronoh Paul, Principal Secretary, State Department for Crops;
- Esteemed delegates, colleagues, and guests;
It is my great honour to welcome you to the second Kenya National Research Festival, and the first to be held outside Nairobi. Hosting this festival here at Egerton University in Njoro marks a monumental achievement for our institution, one of the country’s leading universities in agricultural education, research, and innovation.
I also extend heartfelt appreciation to Prof. Dickson Andala, CEO of the National Research Fund, for his inspiring opening remarks and for his visionary efforts in ensuring that science reaches communities nationwide.
At Egerton, we pride ourselves on generating knowledge across a broad spectrum of disciplines, from veterinary medicine, environmental science, medicine, agriculture, to education, engineering, and beyond. These areas empower all farmers, not just the youth, with research-backed practices, tools, and policies that enhance productivity and livelihoods.
This festival builds a bridge between innovators, researchers, and farmers. Whether you are a smallholder cultivating maize or a technologist creating soil-testing kits, today is about collaboration. Youth are here, and rightly encouraged to explore agriculture as a path to economic empowerment. But so are seasoned farmers, entrepreneurs, and sector leaders. Together, we form a robust network, sharing ideas, learning from one another, and co-creating solutions.
Today, you will see research outputs on display, from beans, groundnuts, cassava, sorghum, to potatoes alongside technology-based innovations such as precision farming tools, environmental monitoring systems, and value-addition machinery. All these projects showcase both economic impact and value chain transformation.
Our cumulative research funding has amounted to over KES 2 billion in recent years, with annual allocations of around KES 700 million, underscoring the scale and consistency of our commitment to advancing impactful research.
We also recognise the many Egerton researchers who have benefited from NRF grants, enabling them to undertake groundbreaking work in diverse fields. These grants have strengthened our capacity to deliver solutions that are locally relevant, technologically advanced, and scalable across Kenya and beyond.
Egerton University, supported by NRF and our partners, is proud to provide the venue for this festival showcasing research outputs while learning directly from the people and sectors we serve. We invite all farmers, innovators, youth, and stakeholders to engage, collaborate, and build inclusive pathways forward. Whether you till one acre or lead a research laboratory, today is for you.
Thank you, and welcome to a festival that brings Kenya’s science, innovation, and farmers together on equal ground, across disciplines, for every field and family.