The University of Eldoret TAGDev 2.0 Technical Team, together with colleagues from the university and industry partners, engaged in a five-day Policy Development Workshop conducted from 6th to 10th October, 2025 at the Sunset Hotel in Kisumu.

Convened under the Transforming African Agricultural Universities to Meaningfully Contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development (TAGDev 2.0) program, the workshop served as a forum for the University of Eldoret team to engage in deliberations, collaborative creation, refinement, and alignment of pivotal university policies designed to enhance governance, foster innovation, and amplify community impact.

The primary objective of the workshop was to prepare four critical policies essential to the enhancement and transformation of higher education institutions:

• Experiential Learning Policy – to guide the integration of practical, hands-on learning into academic programs and bridge the gap between theory and practice.
• Entrepreneurship Policy – to nurture innovation, self-employment, and business incubation among students, graduates, and out-of-school youth.
• Digital Economy Policy – to position the university within the evolving digital landscape through the adoption of technology-driven systems and digital literacy initiatives.
• Stakeholder and Community Engagement Policy (Review) – to enhance collaboration between universities, industry, government, and communities for sustainable development.

In his opening remarks, Prof. Godfrey Netondo, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Affairs), commended the TAGDev 2.0 program for its contribution to facilitating the development of transformative policies. He emphasized the importance of ensuring that the policies are aligned with the University’s mission, vision, and the 2024–2029 Strategic Plan. Moreover, he committed to ensuring proper storage, accessibility, and regular review of the policies within the university.

In his remarks, Prof. Paul Tarus, the Registrar-Academic underscored the government’s emphasis on Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET), highlighting how the newly developed policies will be instrumental in guiding the university’s ongoing curricular reforms. He noted that as universities prepare to receive CBC students starting in 2029, these policies will also shape and inform approaches for flexible and inclusive learning.

Speaking during an interview, Dr. George Ariya, Business Development and Policy Expert, emphasized the significance of institutional policies in building responsive and forward-looking universities.

“Strong, inclusive policies are the foundation of transformation. They ensure that universities are not only academic spaces but also engines of social and economic change,” he remarked, aligning with the TAGDev 2.0 vision of transforming African universities into catalysts for sustainable development.

The collaborative nature of the workshop fostered experience sharing and strengthened participants’ capacity in policy formulation and implementation. It also reaffirmed TAGDev 2.0’s commitment to supporting universities in creating enabling environments for youth empowerment, entrepreneurship, and sustainable livelihoods.

At the close of the workshop, the participants expressed optimism that the newly developed policies would play a crucial role in steering institutional growth and ensuring that the university remains agile, innovative, and responsive to emerging societal challenges.