MasterCard Foundation/RUFORUM Scholarships 2018 for Ugandan & Kenyan Students (Fully Funded)

Application Deadline: Friday, 16^th March 2018 at 17:00 Hours (GMT+3).

The MasterCard Foundation has partnered with the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture, a network of 66 universities in 26 African countries. The partnership focuses on ‘Transforming African Agricultural Universities to meaningfully contribute to Africa’s growth and development’. The aim of partnership is to transform African agricultural universities and their graduates to better respond to developmental challenges through enhanced application of science, technology, business and innovation for rural agricultural transformation.

Under this partnership, 110 undergraduate and 110 masters scholarships will be provided over a period of eight years. The scholarships target academically deserving yet economically disadvantaged, marginalized communities and those coming from conflict and post conflict areas of Africa. The scholarships are tenable at Egerton University in Kenya and Gulu University in Uganda.

Students enrolled under this scholarship programme will receive comprehensive scholarships, leadership development, life skills support, entrepreneurship training and mentorship and exposure to community engagement. For the academic year 2018/2019, 20 undergraduate and 10 masters scholarships are available of which 70% will be for Kenya and Uganda nationals. For undergraduate scholarships, 60% will be awarded to female applicants and 50% at masters.

Eligibility Requirements:

1. Be a national of Kenya or Uganda to benefit from the national respective scholarship quota respectively.
2. Be a citizen of any African country to benefit from the Africa region scholarship quota.
3. Be from economically disadvantaged, marginalized communities,coming from conflict and post conflict areas.
4. Be less than 25 years for undergraduate and less than 30 years for masters studies at the time of application.
5. Should have completed secondary school and/or diploma for a Bachelors degree application not more than two years from the time of this call.
6. The applicant should meet admission criteria to eligible programmes in the University of Choice (Egerton University or Gulu University).
7. For admission into Gulu University for an undergraduate degree programme one must have attained the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE)-High School Certificate (HSC) or its equivalent with two principal passes. For admission into Egerton University one must have completed the Kenya Secondary Education Certificate (KSCE) or its equivalent with at least C+ pass.
8. Demonstrate interest in agriculture, agribusiness and entrepreneurship.
9. Demonstrate leadership qualities.
10. Have commitment to working in agriculture and agricultural value chains.
11. Have a strong commitment to community transformation.

Eligible Programmes of Study

These are academic programmes for academic year 2018/2019 at Gulu University;
1. Bachelor of Science in Agri-Entrepreneurship and Communication Management
2. Bachelor of Science in Food and Agribusiness
3. Master of Science in Food Security and Community Nutrition
4. Master of Science in Agri-Enterprises Development

Eligible Programmes of Study

These are academic programmes for academic year 2018/2019 at Egerton University;
1. Bachelor of Science in Agriculture
2. Bachelor of Science in Animal Science
3. Master of Science in Community Studies and Extension
4. Master of Science in Agri-Enterprise Development

Benefits:

• This is a full-board comprehensive scholarship that covers: tuition fees, one return air ticket for African students from outside Uganda and Kenya, research costs, workshop and conference costs, living expenses including stipend and accommodation fees, laptop, internship attachment, community engagement and field attachment, and entrepreneurship training.
• Consequently, considering the level of investment, successful applicants will be required to become high achievers, highly engaged and focused students/graduates and change makers in their communities and Africa in general. This scholarship has the following attributes: