Driving coordination, capacity, curriculum, and industry linkages.
National Bioeconomy Educational and Policy Framework in Kenya (Bio-KE)
Global economic growth faces eminent challenges such as widening income gaps, environmental degradation, climate change impacts, and the unsustainable use of bioresources. Opportunities in sustainable resource management and multi-stakeholder engagement involving industry, academia, civil society, and policymakers present solutions to these challenges. Africa, with its abundant biomass residues in agriculture, agro-industrial processing, and forestry, has immense potential for bioeconomic development.
Amid such opportunities, the bioeconomy sector faces critical gaps in education, policy, and investment. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have limited capacity to offer bioeconomy programmes. Research and innovation systems remain weak while policy frameworks stand underdeveloped to support sectoral growth.
The National Bioeconomy Educational and Policy Framework in Kenya (Bio-KE) project seeks to strengthen capacity in training and research to stimulate investment in Kenya’s bioeconomy sectors. Anchored in Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the East African Regional Bioeconomy Strategy, the initiative is guided by four specific objectives:
- Enhance the institutional capacity of educational government agencies to develop a National Bioeconomy Education Framework in Kenya.
- Strengthening the capacities of HEIs to develop competency-based bioeconomy curricula for training youth in employable green skills.
- Accelerating collaboration between HEIs and bio-entrepreneurs to enhance bioeconomy education and business development, leveraging experiences from EU partners
- Establishing bioeconomy community living labs (CLLs) to foster continuous stakeholder engagement.
Beneficiaries
Higher Education Institutions: Curriculum framework, toolkits and capacity programmes for delivery at scale.
Bio entrepreneurs: Training and capacity building, matchmaking, industry projects and access to research output and support in commercialisation. Government Agencies (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, etc.): Policy frameworks and evidence for programme design and investment.
HEI Students and the Public: Future ready skills, awareness and opportunities within the green, circular economy.
Ths project is funded under the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, specifically within the Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) framework. Learn more
