Dedan Kimathi University and the Kenya Tourism To sign MoU to promote Tourism

THE Dedan Kimathi University of Technology and the Kenya Tourism Board plan to sign a memorandum of understanding to promote tourism in the country.

The MoU is set to be signed mid next month. The KTB managing director Muriithi Ndegwa met with vice chancellor Ndirangu Kioni on Wednesday at the university to discuss the agreement. Ndegwa said the board is interested in working with the institution to promote tourism.

He said the university has potential for agritourism. The institution, which is in Nyeri county has a large coffee farm and lab. It processes its own coffee under the Dedan Kimathi University Premium Coffee brand. Ndegwa said there is no institution offering agritourism in coffee and the university could fill this gap. According to a bird mapping exercise conducted in the university's coffee farm, there are more than 200 species of birds.

Muriithi said this could attract bird lovers from around the world. The university also has a 140-acre wildlife conservancy which has wildebeests, zebras, warthogs, Ilamas and monkeys.

The conservancy not only serves as a training ground for tourism and hospitality students and is also open to the public for camping. Some cottages and a research centre have been built on it in order to improve the conservancy's popularity among local and international tourists.