Bahir Dar Univeristy

BDU was inaugurated in 2000 by the merging of two former academic institutions. It aims to be a knowledge hub for Ethiopia, at the source of the Blue Nile. Its mission is to contribute substantially to the nation and beyond through high quality education, research and community services. BDU is now among the largest universities in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with more than 35,000 students in its 57 undergraduate and 39 graduate programs. Bahir Dar University has four colleges, three institutes, three faculties, and one school. The Institute of Land Administration (ILA) has extensive development cooperation experience, primarily through SIDA (Sweden), and is a leader in land administration developments in Ethiopia and East Africa. PhD qualified staff maintain strong links with the Ministry of Agriculture through the Rural Lands Certification Program.

BDU, like the other southern academic partners, plays active roles throughout the project, most prominently in phase 1 and 2, but also phase 3. BDU enables scaling and dissemination activities: research results will be embedded into future training programs and courses. Specifically, BDU is engaged on WP2 to enable smooth access to the Ethiopian stakeholder networks including government, community, and private sector actors. It will also assist in the design of data collection instruments, and subsequent roll-out. For3, 4, and 6 BDU will assist in site selection, take part in UAV training, and execute components of the prototyping and demonstration activities. INES participates in WP7 and 8 in an advisory and dissemination role. BDU acts at the stakeholder hub for Ethiopia in the its4land project.