The NORAD Phase II Institutional Support Programme builds on
collaboration between the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB)
and Hawassa University which goes back to the late 1980s and early 1990s respectively.

This collaboration was formalized in the first phase Institutional
Support Program which began in 1996 and ran until 2001. The emphasis of
this project was on capacity building and training, and it was supported
by NOK 5.6m.

The Phase 2 program was developed through a process starting with the
final evaluation of Phase 1 (November 2001), the development of long
term strategic plans in early 2002, a review workshop to discuss the
evaluation of findings in context was held in October 2002 and task
force work to produce the final project document. This was signed on 23^rd
June 2003 and Phase 2 started in July of that year.

Currently phase II  is completed, leading to the commencement of phase
III.

The overall development goal of the program is to "enhance the
contribution of higher (education) institutions towards the national
policy of poverty reduction and increased agricultural productivity by
improving the quality of education and research." This is set within the
context of contributing to the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals, especially helping Ethiopia achieve food security,
but there is a wider focus seeking to improve the rural livelihoods.