The German Research Fund has awarded an Sh106 million research grant to a senior lecturer at the University of Embu.
Dr. Mark Otieno, an agroecology lecturer in the department of Water and Agricultural Resource Management (Warma), has put the university on the map after winning an award to conduct research on the functional complementarity of nocturnal and diurnal pollinators along a land use gradient in Kenya’s Taita Hills biodiversity hotspots.
The research will be in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Kenya Vision 2030, both of which aim to promote sustainable development and biodiversity conservation.
The research will concentrate on the effects of human activities on pollinators and plant reproduction, in order to inform sustainable farming practices that enhance biodiversity and food security.
The three-year study will begin in May 2023. It will help to achieve one of Kenya Vision 2030’s aims of promoting ecologically sustainable development.
A panel of academics from the University of Embu, led by Dr Otieno, and the University of Wuerzburg, led by Prof. Dr. Ingolf Steffan Dewenter, a professor of spatial ecology, plant-pollinator interactions, tropical agroecosystems, and crop pollination, will collaborate on the study.
The researchers will also include Dr Marcell Peters, an expert in montane biodiversity and ecology, organismic features and ecosystem functions, and land use change.
Dr. Otieno thanked the foundation’s selection panel for the prize, adding the study will have a substantial influence on food security in Africa by boosting the number of pollinators, which is critical for plant species reproduction.
University Vice Chancellor Daniel Mugendi congratulated Dr. Otieno on receiving the award, adding it will help Kenya achieve its Vision 2030 and sustainable development goals.
