This programme is implemented by the Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (CAVM), University of Rwanda (UR) in collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Sweden. The overall development goal of the proposed Engendering Rural Transformation for Sustainable Development (ENTRUST) programme is to contribute to broad-based national transformation through post-graduate research training and capacity development in: (1) gender and rural entrepreneurship; (2) rural transformation, institutions, gender, Information Communication Technology (ICT); and (3) farming, food consumption patterns, and health. The program contributes to the development of highly qualified Rwandan researchers by mainly focusing on training PhD candidates, post-doc and masters students. It also strengthens national research capacity to boost the country’s evidence based efforts to realize broad-based and inclusive economic growth, food security and poverty reduction.
In a span of five years, the program is expected to train locally and internationally, a total of six PhD candidates through joint PhD courses, teaching and supervision, contribute to several joint UR-SLU publications with special support to one post-doctoral researcher, as well as support short term staff teaching and research exchanges.
The main focus of the programme is to increase the understanding of rural transformation and its drivers using an inter-disciplinary approach. In addition, the programme integrates a gendered approach to examine the influence of policies on local economic development, agricultural entrepreneurship and value chains as well as in depth exploration of farming, food consumption patterns and health outcomes.
The programme undertakes a participatory action research approach to frame specific research questions that can explain the engendering processes and outcomes of rural transformation in Rwanda. The findings will better inform scientists, practitioners as well as policy makers in issues driving rural development and rural transformation.
