A research and training centre in Nanyuki

CETRAD is an independent Trust in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, at the foot of Mount Kenya. The University of Nairobi, the University of Bern, and the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation sit on its board.

The Centre for Transformative Research and Development (CETRAD) is a registered charitable trust based in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, at the foot of Mount Kenya.

Our work combines research, monitoring, and multi-stakeholder engagement with the people who depend on Mount Kenya's water. It sustains farming, pastoralism, wildlife, and towns across the semi-arid lowlands, but climate change and competing demands are putting this system under growing pressure. Our record since 1976 anchors work from research to policy and practice.

Established in 1976 as an exchange programme between the University of Nairobi and the University of Bern, the initiative elevated to the Laikipia Research Programme in 1985. In 2002, it transformed into the Centre for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD), established as a bilateral institution by the Governments of Kenya and Switzerland. Today, CETRAD is a registered charitable trust in Kenya governed by a tripartite board representing the University of Nairobi, the University of Bern, and the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation.

Vision

Resilient landscapes in Kenya and East Africa where communities and ecosystems thrive together, supported by development that rests on evidence and is shaped with the people it affects.

Mission

To generate and apply knowledge, and to build skills, that improve how natural resources are managed and governed in drylands, working with those who make decisions about them and those affected by them.

History

1976

An exchange programme between the University of Nairobi and the University of Bern, Switzerland, carries out research in Laikipia and the adjacent slopes of Mt Kenya.

1985

The exchange programme elevates to Laikipia Research Programme and expands thematic scope to support the Swiss Development Cooperation technical cooperation in the frame of the Laikipia Rural Development Programme. Continues to support academic research and training.

2002

The Laikipia Research Programme transforms into Centre for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD) established as a bilateral institution by the Government of Kenya and the Government of Switzerland, and expands its thematic and geographic scope to cover the ASALs of Kenya, through research, training, and transfer of knowledge and technology for policy and practice.

2026

CETRAD is registered as a Trust in Kenya and becomes the legal successor of the centre established in 2002. It adopts its present name, the Centre for Transformative Research and Development, and continues that work from Nanyuki as a registered charitable trust.

What transformative means

Climate, land use, markets, and technology are changing how land and water are used in Laikipia and the Ewaso Ng'iro basin.

Research on change

CETRAD studies how social, ecological, and economic systems change in Laikipia, and what drives that change.

Research and training that help people respond

Short courses and graduate supervision in Nanyuki use the rainfall and river records kept since 1976.

How we work

Long-term presence

The centre has kept field records in Laikipia since 1976, from its base in Nanyuki.

Findings people can use

Counties, water resource user associations, and research partners use the rainfall, river flow, and land records from the Ewaso Ng'iro basin.

Governance as part of the science

Rights to water, land and pasture, and the ways people negotiate them, shape outcomes as much as the condition of the resources themselves.

Our work

Our Mandate

To advance sustainable and inclusive transformation in rural, agrarian and pastoral landscapes through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange, education, policy engagement and collaboration, promoting sound natural resource management and governance, resilient livelihoods and human well-being.

Core Values

What guides us

Integrity & Transparency

All research and activities conducted with the highest standards of scientific rigour, transparency, and ethical responsibility.

Community-centred Impact

We engage communities, governments, and partners to ensure our work is relevant and widely beneficial.

Scientific Excellence

We promote knowledge-based innovations that respond to the evolving challenges faced by ASAL communities.

Environmental Stewardship

Every programme is designed with long-term environmental, social, and economic sustainability in mind.

Impact

We measure success by the tangible difference our research, training, and policy engagement makes in people's lives.

Partners

We welcome partnerships with funders and development partners, universities and research institutions, government agencies and community organisations to generate evidence, build capacity and address shared challenges.