By Kamundia Muriithi
University of Embu plans to partner with the Embu County Government and other stakeholders to establish an innovation centre that will come up with solutions to the problems the society faces.
Dr. Milca Nyaga, a lecturer in the Psychology department said the multi-million facility would be used to offer training on innovations and research aiming to achieve high impact solution to the society.
She said areas of training will be those with immense value in sectors such as agriculture, health, forestry, energy among others. Residents will also be trained on new innovations to be at par with others across the world.
They will also be allowed to benchmark at the centre so as to embrace the ideas in their areas of work.
“There are many creative ideas that need to be developed into major innovations that can be used to solve local problems. This should be the way to go instead of relying on Government interventions or foreign aid. This will be our area of focus in the coming months, “she said.
Dr. Nyaga spoke during an innovations workshop that was organised by the International Innovation Development Network (IIDN) that brought together farmers, teachers, health practitioners among others where they showcased various innovations that they have developed.
Among the innovations shown was an apparatus to manufacture nitrogen rich fertilizer from kitchen waste. Others included making of home items from discarded water bottles.
Joseph Munene of Caritas, the development arm of the Catholic Church, Embu branch that has several research programmes highlighted how some farmers are crushing red pepper and mixing it with ash to kill the fall army worm that has attacked maize. He said the concoction has helped many farmers address the challenge of the pest.
