Scholarship / My essay for the Julius Mwalimu scholarship scheme [4]

The essay answers two question why I have chosen the program and how it will contribute to the African development. Please help

IMPORTANCE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN TRANSFORMATIVE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TO AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT

Since the end of the colonial era, many families, communities and larger societies in African Continent have experienced numerous hardships on the pathway to economic and human development. A high level of poverty, diseases, climate change, food insecurity along with knowledge gap, have created a fertile environment for factors that have gripped Africa's development efforts.

The Masters of Science in Transformative community Development Program is a strong tool to unlocking the sustainable development of the African continent. The program engages vulnerable communities and societies to use their knowledge and capacity to cope with the challenges of climate change, food security, and nutrition.

The recurring of climate change situations such as floods, and droughts are devastating most economic, social and environmental systems in Africa. This has reduced the capacity of communities and societies in Africa to cope with shocks of climate change. The impacts of climate change on the economy and livelihood in Africa are devastating. Climate change and food insecurity have negatively impacted on sustainable development plans for the African Continent

Within the vulnerable, families and communities in the African Continent, there is rich knowledge and experience, which the program seeks to harness. So that it can be used as a solution to the communities to cope with shocks of climate change and food insecurity. Therefore, working closely with households, communities and larger society are assets in the development of policies for economic and human development.

The active participation of individuals, families, and communities at the grass root level is important for sustainable interventions in communities. Therefore, the program engages communities and societies in collaboration with the government, non-governmental organization and other development agency to effectively respond to climate change and food insecurity.

According to the United Nations, the African continent is expected to be one of the continents hardest hit by climate change, with an increase in severe droughts, floods and storms are expected to threaten the health of populations and economies alike. Climate change threatens the livelihoods of rural communities in many parts of the African continent where agriculture is mostly rain-fed and subsistence farming is the custom.

I find the program to be a great link to build strong relationships between Universities and local communities. It creates a platform to allow the voices of the most vulnerable groups to feed into the research of the students and the teaching programs of the Universities. In addition, it creates a platform for policymakers to view community resilient as an integral component to the development of the African continent.

Therefore, I find the Master of Science in Transformative community Development Program fit for my long-term career goals. I plan to work with families and communities that are trying to cope with climate change and food insecurity.

Consequently, it will build on my undergraduate qualification of Bachelor of Social Science (Social Work). The program has a familiar concept of developing and transforming communities. In addition, it will support my ambitions of working with the government or non-governmental organizations to build resilient communities that will highly contribute to the development of the African continent.