Established in 2017,  the West African Center for Sustainable Rural Transformation (WAC-SRT) develops interdisciplinary research and teaching programs that produce the required knowledge, applicable technological solutions , and locally adapted business models and administrative approaches, like renewable energies and agricultural water management. Bringing partners from Niger and Ghana together, the center fosters synergies to address problems that are shared by many West-African Countries. Advanced experiences in the realm of renewable energy generation and agricultural water management developed by the partners from Niger benefit Ghana, especially in the light of looming energy crisis and increasing climatic pressures. At the same time, innovative approaches in agricultural commercialization and locally adapted decentralized development planning conceived in Ghana can strengthen sustainable rural transformation in Niger. WAC-SRT bridges rural-urban and Anglophone-Francophone divides in order to contribute towards West Africa’s sustainable rural transformation in an interdisciplinary and transnational manner.

Closing ceremony of the 2019 transdisciplinary special school

Programme and How to Apply

The WAC-SRT currently offers three Master programmes:

• Integrated Master Program for Sustainable Rural Transformation, at UAM Niamey, Niger
• Phil Agricultural Economics, at UDS Tamale, Ghana
• Phil Development Management, at UBIDS Wa, Ghana

An open call is usually issued and advertised in March and April. The application deadline is by the end of May, with final students’ selection in July.

Students from all African Countries are welcome to apply to the graduate schools at UAM, UBIDS or UDS. Each year we select 18 candidates to join these three master programs. Successful applicants receive stipends during the two years of their master studies and a lumpsum to further support their field research. Whenever possible, courses are open for additional self-paying students.

Students from the three programs also join a transdisciplinary special school, which gives them the opportunity to discuss different aspects of sustainable rural transformation with academics from different disciplines and countries, as well as with development practitioners from government and civil society organizations. Besides lectures and discussions, the four-week program gives room for cultural activities and fosters close interactions between master students from Ghana, Niger and other West African countries. This helps to improve their language skills and facilitate future regional professional and academic cooperation.

Find more information about the open calls to the WAC-SRT master programs here.