Agricultural development is critical to the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and other rural populations in developing countries. In Ethiopia, almost 80% of the working populations are engaged in agriculture, and agricultures share to GDP is at approximately 50% (World Bank, 2015). Even though agriculture is being practiced in most parts of the country, the minimum food energy requirement was not even assured. Several million school children are still malnourished, and many others suffer from disease and hunger. Agricultural extension and advisory services can help to address these challenges by assisting farmers with information and knowledge sharing, facilitating innovations, dealing with disasters, and in many other ways (Babu and Joshi 2019; Kilelu et al. 2011). Agricultural Development Lead Industrialization (ADLI) as major policy framework forms its base on food security and poverty reduction strategies where the demand for skilled manpower is very critical in implementing the strategy. Implementation of these key government strategies takes place through the subsequent Five-year Development Plans. These have included: Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) 2001-2005, Plan for the Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) 2006 to 2010 , Growth and Transformation Plan I and II (GTP I, 2010- 2015; GTP II 2016-2020) and the current Ten Years Strategic Plan. In all these strategies, the government set priority areas as agriculture and rural development and capacity building. In this regard, Ethiopian higher education institutions have been playing a key role in training such professionals in agriculture and rural development.

In line with the development plan of Ethiopian government, HEIs has given attention to initiate demand driven training programs in rural and agricultural sectors. The department of rural development and agricultural extension in various HEIs runs Bachelor’s degree in Rural Development and Agricultural Extension to produce graduates at B.Sc. level. Werabe University launched this department since 2018/19 by considering regional and national demand for graduates. The contribution of these graduates to the development of agricultural sector in the country is enormous and there is a growing demand by regional and federal agriculture bureaus, regional and federal agricultural research institutes and other development agencies for such qualified professionals. The graduates of this program are substantially contributing to the agrarian development of the country by serving as extension functionaries under the Ministry of Agriculture as well as NGOs in various capacities

Date of establishment

Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension was established in 2018/19 GC by the approval of Werabe University Senate.