Starts: Annually in September
Duration: 24 months
Locations: Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia and UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands

CONTEXT

Water management and flood protection plans and designs can be based on the management capacity and development constraints. It is thus of major importance that prior to the preparation of technical designs, concepts are formulated for the system management. The development of regional development and land use plans, the selection of water management methods, flood protection, development of infrastructure, as well as organisation and financing systems can be determined on the basis of these concepts.

Haramaya University (HU) and UNESCO-IHE jointly developed the joint double degree programme in Agricultural Water Management for Arid and Semi-arid Climates to provide high-quality MSc education for agricultural water management specialists. The agricultural water management for arid and semi-arid climates specialist is concerned with the development, adaptation and management of water management and flood protection provisions, working in areas of ecosystems and water resources aspects of sustainable water management and flood protection. They make integrated land use development and management plans, and deal with the development, operation and maintenance of water management and flood protection schemes, and the preparation and implementation of land reclamation and land consolidation programmes.

PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS

The target group for this specialization are officials of ministries, provincial, district or city governments working favourably at planning units, aged 38 years or younger, and officially proposed by their superior. To be admitted, prospective students must hold a BSc degree in fields such as civil, agricultural, or environmental engineering, or other relevant fields that may contribute to integrated lowlands development and management.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of this joint double degree programme, the graduates will:

• have in-depth understanding and specific knowledge of the current concepts and theories of irrigation, drainage, and land reclamation and land consolidation technology to support a sustainable development of identified lands with different types of land use, and the multi-disciplinary involvement in the water sector linkages with the wider aspects of society, economy and the environment;
• master the major hydraulic and environmental engineering aspects and hydrological methodologies, as well as applications for irrigation, drainage and flood protection schemes, including techniques for data collection, processing and analysis, and modelling;
• be able to contribute to the planning, design, development and implementation (action plan for the realisation) of the hydraulic infrastructure for land development and management schemes;
• be able to advise developers, system managers and water users on the operation and maintenance aspects of the water management schemes;
• be able to formulate and conduct hydraulic and environmental engineering research, plan development and designs in the field of integrated lowland development, experiments and tests for both practical and scientific purposes, either independently or within a team-based framework;
• be able to adequately communicate methodology, research results, plans, designs, evaluations, conclusions and recommendations in written, oral and graphical form to various audiences;
• be able to formulate and evaluate a concept with its alternatives for integrated land development for areas with different type of land use, and assess the technical and economic feasibility, as well as the environmental sustainability of the proposed integrated land development and/or management plans.

DEGREE

Students who successfully complete this joint double degree programme will be awarded two Master's degrees: one from UNESCO-IHE and one from HU. The degree students receive from UNESCO-IHE is the degree in Water Science and Engineering with a specialization in Agricultural water management for Arid and Semi-Arid Climates. HU will award an MSc degree in Irrigation Engineering. These degrees will only be awarded to participants who have successfully completed both the course work and the research-based MSc thesis.

ADMISSION PROCEDURE

Interested persons apply for admission with UNESCO-IHE. Academic screening is jointly done by UH and UNESCO-IHE. Pre-selection will be done by UH and final selection by UH and UNESCO-IHE. The application procedure for UNESCO-IHE's MSc Programmes, and the necessary application form, are available through this link.

HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY, ETHIOPIA

Haramaya University (HU) was founded in 1952 as the Imperial Ethiopian College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. At the moment Haramaya University offers training in wide range of disciplines and at different levels: there are 11 colleges, 50 departments, 12 PhD, 46 MSc and 80 degree programs. The student population has risen to over 30,000 in all programs, 953 full-time teaching staff and over 1100 permanent administrative staff are on duty.

Haramaya University strives to be among the leading universities recognized nationally and internationally for excellence in teaching, research and outreach service. The mission of Haramaya University is to produce competent graduates in wide spectrum of academic disciplines through quality education; undertake academically rigorous and socially meaningful cutting-edge research; disseminate knowledge and technologies; and provide consultancy services to the public.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS

This 24-month joint double degree programme offers students the possibility to study at two renowned institutes for international postgraduate education: HU and UNESCO-IHE. The coursework part of the programme starts in HU in September, and continues at UNESCO-IHE in February. The lectures, exercises, field and laboratory work at HU are organised in semesters. At UNESCO-IHE education is organized in modules (3-week time blocks); two modules are followed by a 1-week examination period. Students return to HU to follow Environmental Quality Management and to work on their thesis. The MSc thesis is finalized at UNESCO-IHE from February onwards.

Subjects at HU (September – January)

• Soil Plant Water Relations
• Applied Hydrology
• Surface Irrigation Systems Design
• Experimental Design and Analysis
• Course Work Semester II
• Design of Pressurised Irrigation Systems
• Dams Hydraulic Structures
• Drainage Engineering and Salinity Control
• Watershed Management

Subjects at UNESCO-IHE (February – October)

• Water Management Systems and Agronomy II
• Aspects of Irrigation and Drainage
• Service Oriented Management of Irrigation Systems
• Conveyance Systems
• Field trip/Fieldwork
• Irrigation and Drainage Structures
• Advanced Methods and Equipment
• Group Work
• MSc Research Methodology Course/Summer Courses
• MSc Thesis Proposal Development

Subjects at HU (October - January)

• Thesis Proposal & Work
• Environmental Quality Management

At UNESCO-IHE (February onwards)

• MSc Research & Thesis Writing