The Dryland make upto about 80% of Kenya’s total land mass. The ASALs is characterized by limited and unreliable rainfall, fragile soils and relatively high temperature. Currently, the ASALs are largely underutilized for economic benefit of the local communities and the country at large. The human population in the ASALs is estimated at 25% of the national population and accommodate about 80% of total livestock. It is against this background that a curriculum on Dryland Integrated Land Management Systems has been developed as a strategy for building on human capital to harness the available resources for economic benefit. The curriculum will produce graduates with in-depth understanding of dryland ecosystem, biodiversity in the ASALs, community livelihood and sociocultural system, resources in ASALs, biotic and abiotic challenges, and innovations to harness resources to improve life in the ASALs.

Land management in Kenya’s ASALs is yet to be prioritized as a means of judicious utilization and conservation of natural resources for economic development. Management of land resources could spur economic growth and reduce poverty index in the ASALs. There is need for adequate management of land resources in the ASALs to stimulate economic growth, improve livelihood and maintain healthy bio ecological co-existence. Besides, Kenya’s vision 2030 emphasizes the importance of the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) as an important component in the economic pillar. The strategy is to utilize some 24 million hectares for livestock production and expand crop production through irrigation on some 9.2 million hectares in the ASAL. The Government plan in “Strategy for Revitalization of Agriculture for 2004-2014” also recognizes the importance of agriculture in national growth and development and commits to expand agriculture production in ASALs through expanding irrigation. These can be realized by investing in a focused training of personnel capable of identifying opportunities and resources for utilization and development in the drylands. The MSc curriculum in Dryland Integrated Land Management Systems is designed to address this need.

Upon successful completion of the training, the graduates will be expected to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to innovatively utilize and conserve resources, and improve livelihood in Drylands.

The common university rules and regulations for the Master's degree programmes specified in the Egerton University Statutes will be applicable. Admission shall be offered to holders of a first degree in Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources, and related disciplines, with a minimum of second class honours (upper division) or equivalent qualification from recognised institutions. In exceptional cases, University Senate may also admit to the masters programme, non-holders of upper second class honours degrees, provided such candidates can, on the basis of research and academic work the applicants have done, show that they are well qualified to undertake post graduate work by passing qualifying examinations.

The programme consists of course work, examination and thesis. Candidates will qualify for the award of M.Sc degree in Dryland Integrated Land Management Systems by fulfilling the following requirements. Candidates are required to successfully complete at least 30 credit factors of their course work and in addition successfully complete 15 credit factors of a thesis to qualify for the award of the Masters degree.

Candidates for M.Sc Dryland Integrated Land Management Systems degree shall be registered as full time students for a minimum of 18 months and a maximum of thirty six (36) months, and register for a minimum of nine (9) credit factors per semester. Candidates wishing to register as part-time students shall be registered for a maximum of forty eight (48) months out of which twelve (12) months must be in residence. The candidates must register for a minimum of six (6) credit factors per semester.

In the coding, the acronym “AGRO” refers to the Section Agronomy as a core discipline. The first digit represents level of training, which is 7 for the Master’s programme. The second digit refers to sub-disciplines within agronomy or crop science as follows: 0: General or Basic Principles 
1: Crop Physiology and Environment 
2: Crop Improvement and Biotechnology 
3: Crop Protection 
4: Seed Science and Technology 
5: Annual Crops 
6: Perennial Crops 
7: Pastures and Fodder Crops 
8: Interdisciplinary Courses 
9: Biometry and Experimentation, Projects, Seminars, Field Visits, Field Attachment. The third digit is a serial number for the various courses within the sub-disciplines.