The National Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) programme, ReNOKA, and the National University of Lesotho (NUL) with support of WaterNet Trust are delighted to announce the successful development and start of the Master of Science in Integrated Catchment and Water Resources Management (MSc in ICWRM) programme.
Hosted in the Water Institute at NUL, the MSc in ICWRM programme was launched on Friday 28th July 2023 at NUL. Orientation for the new students took place on the 12th– 14th July 2023 while lectures began on the 18th July 2023 with in-house and field activities for the students.
The ICWRM MSc. Programme was developed and will be implemented in close collaboration with ReNOKA and with the financial support of the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
ReNOKA has sponsored fifteen full and five partial scholarships in the first intake of students that have been enrolled to pursue their studies.
The four-semester full-time programme will provide students with the in-depth knowledge and practical skills they need to succeed in effectively managing water- and land-related matters. The quality of the courses is ensured from the start through close collaboration with the WaterNet network of universities in the SADC region. WaterNet experts and academics at NUL have jointly worked on the course outlines, and course manuals, and will also hold lectures jointly to promote regional exchange.
Lesotho’s river catchments are facing severe land degradation, which is an existential threat to water security for Lesotho or the Orange-Senqu basin and to the livelihoods of the rural population in the catchments of Lesotho. The successful development of this Master’s programme therefore presents an opportunity for Basotho to play a significant role in reversing degradation of land and water resources and to restore and preserve Lesotho as the Water Tower of Southern Africa.
ReNOKA and NUL intend to form excellent graduates and to create a new generation of natural resource management professionals and future leaders in ICM who will move on to contribute to the progress of Lesotho’s integrated catchment management. The launch of the first ICWRM Master programme in Lesotho, with specialisations in ICM and IWRM, is hence embedded into a wider strategy of ReNOKA to offer high-quality teaching and further training opportunities to Basotho in integrated catchment management (ICM) and integrated water resource management (IWRM).
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