Madda Walabu University has launched a unique National Research Conference titled “From Local Practices to National Impact: Recognizing Farmers as Innovators” which lasts for two consecutive days.
This distinctive conference focuses on integrating the indigenous knowledge of farmers—derived from their experiences and traditional practices—with scientific knowledge, aiming to foster experiential learning and collaboration.
In the first day the conference featured eight researchers from the Bale, East Bale, and West Arsi zones who shared their research findings, experiences and indigenous knowledge.
During the conference, a welcoming address and opening remarks was made by Dr. Birhanemeskel Tena, the esteemed President of Madda Walabu University, who emphasized that the university is committed to teaching, research, and providing community service. Furthermore, he noted that there is a need to give appropriate room for farmers to share their knowledge & experiences “From Farmers to Farmers by Farmers” to create strong bond between university and the farmers. He also stated that today’s unique research conference for farmers is an opportunity to prepare for better results in agricultural practices.
This type of research conference is not only a starting point but also aims to expand the role of Madda Walabu University in promoting agricultural knowledge within the community. Experts and other stakeholders were engaged actively, creating a platform for sharing knowledge and experiences among farmers.
The honorable president highlighted the importance of combining traditional knowledge with modern insights for improved agricultural outcomes, fostering collaboration and partnership among researchers and farmers. This initiative underscores our university’s commitment to resilient and sustainable development, ensuring that local ingenuity is harnessed to solve national challenges and create a future where every community’s contribution is a catalyst for progress.
Madda Walabu University’s board co-chair, Professor Belay Simeneh, and Dr. Tesfaye Bashah Independent Consultant of Agriculture & Development delivered their keynote speech through online platforms. On the other hand, Dr. Kaba Urgessa, Regional Partnership & Resource Mobilization Head of Action for the Needy in Ethiopia and Africa, presented his keynote address in a face to face situation being at Madda Walabu University Physically.
Three of the keynote speakers acknowledged the university effort on unique conference that redefines the traditional research paradigm by elevating grassroots wisdom to the national stage. By celebrating the farmer not merely as a beneficiary of technology but as a primary source of innovation, this conference bridges the gap between indigenous knowledge and scholarly inquiry to drive meaningful social transformation.
Federal and regional authorities, as well as representatives from Bale, East Bale, West Arsi, and Robe city communities, along with other stakeholders, were participated in the conference.
The second day will also continue tomorrow with Agricultural Exhibition, Networking and further close discussion with stakeholders as we have learnt from the planned schedule.
በመደ ወላቡ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በአይነቱ ልዩ የሆነ ሀገር አቀፍ የአርሶ አደሮች የምርምር ኮንፍረንስ ‘’From Local Practices to National Impact: Recognizing Farmers as Innovators’’ በሚል መሪ ሀሳብ በመካሄድ ላይ ይገኛል፡፡
በመደ ወላቡ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በአይነቱ ልዩ የሆነ ሀገር አቀፍ የአርሶ አደሮች የምርምር ኮንፍረንስ ‘’From Local Practices to National Impact: Recognizing Farmers as Innovators’’ በሚል መሪ ሀሳብ በመካሄድ ላይ ይገኛል፡፡
ለሁለት ተከታታይ ቀናት በሚዘልቀው በዚህ ልዩ አርሶ አደሮች የምርምር ኮንፍረንስ አርሶ አደሮች ያላቸውን ተፈጥሯዊ እውቀቶች (በልምድ የዳበረና ሀገር በቀል እውቀት) ከሳይንሳዊ እውቀቶች ጋር በማጣመርና የልምድ ልውውጥ ማድረግን አላማ ያደረገ ነው፡፡
በኮንፍረንሱ ከባሌ፣ ከምስራቅ ባሌ፣ከምእራብ አርሲ ዞኖች የተውጣጡ ስምንት አርሶ አደሮች የምርምር ውጤቶቻቸውንና ተሞክሮዎቻቸውን የሚያጋሩ ይሆናል፡፡
በምርምር ኮንፍረንሱ የእንኳን ደህና መጣችሁ መልእክትና የመክፈቻ ንግግር ያደረጉት የመደ ወላቡ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ፕሬዝዳንት የተከበሩ ዶ/ር ብርሃነመስቀል ጠና እንዳሉት መደ ወላቡ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ያስተምራል፣ያስመርቃል፣ ምርምር ያደርጋል፣እውቅና ይሰጣል፡፡ነገር ግን የትልቅ እና እውነተኛ እውቀት ባለቤት ለሆኑት አርሶ አደሮቻችን በቂ እውቅናን ሳንሰጥ በመቆየታችን ምክንያት ዛሬ ይህንን ልዩ የሆነ የአርሶ አደሮች፣ለአስሶ አደሮች በአርሶ አደሮች የሚቀርብ የምርምር ኮንፍረንስ በልዩ ሁኔታ ልናዘጋጅ ችለናል ብለዋል፡፡
ይህን አይነት የምርምር ኮንፍረንስ ዛሬ አንድ ብለን እንጀምር እንጂ መደ ወላቡ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ቀጣይነት ባለው መልኩ አርሶ አደሩን ማህበረሰብ በስፋት ባሳተፈ መልኩ እንደሚሰራበት ገልፀው በዚህ መድረክ ምሁራኑም ሆኑ ሌሎች የባለድርሻ አካላት ከአርሶ አደሮቻችን እውቀትና ተሞክሮ የሚወሰድበት መድረክ መሆንንም ጠቁመዋል፡፡
ክቡር ፕሬዝዳንቱ አክለውም ተፈጥሯዊ እውቀቶችን ከዘመናዊ እውቀቶች ጋር አንድ ላይ ማምጣት እና ማጣመር ለግብርናው ውጤት ከፍታ እንዲሁም በምሁራኑ እና አርሶ አደሩ መካከል የአጋርነት እና መግባባት መፍጠር ግብ ያደረገ መድረክ መሆኑን አመላክተዋል፡፡
መደ ወላቡ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የቦርድ የስራ አመራር ምክትል ሰብሳቢ ፕሮፌሰር በላይ ሰማኒኢ እንዲሁም ዶ/ር ተስፋዬ በሻህ በግል በግብርና እድገት ላይ አማካሪ የእለቱን ቁልፍ መልእክቶቻቸውን በቀጥታ መስመር/Online/ ሲያስተላልፍ በኢትዮጵያና አፍሪካ ለተቸገሩ ወገኖች የአጋርነትና የግብአት እንቅስቃሴ ሀላፊ ዶ/ር ካባ ኡርጌሳ ደግሞ በዩኒቨርሲቲው በአካል በመገኘት የእለቱን ቁልፍ መልእክት አስተላልፈዋል፡፡
የፌድራል እና የክልል የስራ ሃላፊዎች እንዲሁም የባሌ ፣ምስራቅ ባሌ ፣ምእራብ አርሲ ፣ የሮቤ ከተማ ማህበረሰብ ተወካዮች እንዲሁም ሌሎች ባለድርሻ አካላት በኮንፍረንሱ ተሳትፏቸውን በማድረግ ላይ ይገኛሉ፡፡
ባሌ-ሮቤ ሚያዝያ 29/2018 ዓ.ም መደ ወላቡ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ሕ.ዓ.ግ.ጽ
