Bahir Dar University

February, 2022

Bahir Dar University is a public university in Ethiopia with strong commitments to regional sustainability and environmental education. Bahir Dar currently offers a bachelor’s degree in water resources engineering and master’s degrees in engineering hydrology, irrigation, and environmental engineering. Bahir Dar Energy Center does research in renewable energy sources and accessibility to rural households; it also offers graduate studies in sustainable energy. Researchers at Bahir Dar have recently been working to find an innovative approach to increasing water sustainability. Bahir Dar also works with farming communities to educate them about sustainable farming technologies and more nutritional crop production.

Students introducing dry period irrigation in rural communities to produce vegetables using a solar pump that draws water from shallow wells.
Students introducing dry period irrigation in rural communities to produce vegetables using a solar pump that draws water from shallow wells.

Bahir Dar University is involved with sustainable water management and integrated ecosystems design for the region. This includes interventions to improve crop productivity per unit area or provide access to alternative energy so that energy access, incomes, and nutrition levels of smallholder farmers can improve without compromising the environmental sustainability in the highland. 

Bahir Dar Institute of Technology at Bahir Dar University has developed programs in water resources education and research. Bahir Dar also offers a water resources engineering and management PhD program, whose students have produced and published their work in scientific journals since 2013. Blue Nile Water Institute was established in 2003, and also helps strengthen the multi-disciplinary collaborative research in water resources at Bahir Dar. Students research integrated and innovative approaches to increase water sustainability in the Ethiopian Highlands. This research recommends finding ways to capture greater quantities of water during Ethiopia’s 4-month rain season. 

Did you know?

As part of the National Green Legacy to build a green climate resistant economy, Bahir Dar University has planted more than 5,000,000 trees in the northwestern part of the Ethiopian highlands since 2019 and will continue planting 1,000,000 trees every year as part of the Government’s plan to plant 20 billion seedlings by 2024. (Demeke, H. (2020, July 18). Ethiopia: National Green Campaign Underway Aimed At Greening Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Herald. Retrieved February 8, 2022)