JKUAT attains double ISO certifications

Vice Chancellor, Prof. Victoria Wambui Ngumi (centre) receives the ISO Certificates from Management Representative, Prof. Bernard Ikua witnessed by other members of JKUAT ISO Steering Committee.

In conformity with its mission to be a university of global excellence, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology has been recertified on two international standards namely ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management Systems) and ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management Systems).

The two certifications by Kenya Bureau of Standards in June 2019, affirm JKUAT’s global visibility and competitiveness as an environmentally sound source of quality knowledge, graduates, innovations and other research outputs.

JKUAT was among the first Kenyan universities to be ISO certified on Quality Management Systems in 2009. In January 2015, JKUAT emerged ahead of the pack, becoming the first university in the region to bag ISO certification on Environmental Management Systems.

Since first embracing ISO certification on Quality Management Systems, JKUAT has raked in a number of benefits including increased efficiency and productivity through standardization of services and products. This has led to greater customer satisfaction, while promoting continual improvement of products and processes.

The Environmental Management Systems on the other hand, has fostered stakeholder awareness on environmental conservation, while enabling JKUAT to cut operational costs on energy consumption, water use and solid waste. The implementation of the systems has equally improved the University’s relations with relevant government institutions through enhanced legal compliance to various laws. JKUAT has also planted over 10,000 trees as part of the greening component of the standard.

In order to effectively and seamlessly implement the two standards, JKUAT has adopted a comprehensive Integrated Management System, with a provision to accommodate additional international certification standards.

The University’s knack for quality has seen it emerge as the most preferred university in the country; attracting the highest number of students for two years back to back. The University has equally taken a leading role in Africa’s transformation agenda by hosting the African Union-fronted Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI), and the International Maritime Organization-led Maritime Technology Cooperation Centre (MTCC) Africa. JKUAT is also home to the China funded Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre (SAJOREC), a research facility towards Africa’s biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and agricultural productivity rejuvenation.