The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, Gulu University (Uganda), Egerton University (Kenya), Africa University (Zimbabwe), University of Free State (South Africa), Malawi University of Science and Technology (Malawi), University of Eldoret (Kenya), Uganda Martyrs University (Uganda), University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria), University of Cape Coast (Ghana), University of Bamenda (Cameroon), National University of Agriculture (Benin), and Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique (Morocco) are implementing a 10 year (2023-2033) Transforming African Agricultural Universities to Meaningfully Contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development (TAGDev 2.0) Programme. The Programme seeks to strengthen universities and TVET institutions to better serve communities by skilling and empowering Africa’s young people and their institutions to drive inclusive, equitable and climate resilient transformation of agriculture and agri-food systems. The Programme will support young African students that are economically disadvantaged but, academically competent to enable them to complete their studies. The scholarship is open to both female and male applicants. Applications from females, refugees and persons with disabilities are highly encouraged. This is Call for Scholarships for the 2026/2027 Academic Year at University of Port Harcourt (UniPort).

Eligible Programmes

This call for Scholarships for the 2026/2027 academic year is open to applicants interested to study at University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria under the programmes listed below.

General Admission Requirements to University of Port Harcourt

Undergraduate Programmes	Admission Requirements
BSc. Agricultural EconomicsBSc. Agribusiness ManagementBSc. Agricultural Extension and Development StudiesBSc. Animal ScienceBSc. Food Science and Nutrition	Candidates seeking admission into any of the undergraduate programmes must: Possess five O-Level credits in GCE/SSCE/NECO1 or its equivalent in the following subjects: Mathematics, English Language, Chemistry, Biology or Agricultural Science and any one of Physics, Economics or Geography at not more than two sittings.Pass the UTME2, which must include: Use of English, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics, and Biology or Agricultural Science.Must choose University of Port Harcourt as first choice institution during UTME online registration. Pass the post-UTME screening exercise of the University of Port Harcourt.Foreign applicants that satisfy condition (i) above are exempted from conditions (ii) and (iii) above.
Post-Graduate Admissions	Admission Requirements
MSc. Fisheries and Aquatic SciencesMSc. Agribusiness ManagementMSc. Crop Science	All candidates are required to possess: a credit pass in English Language and Mathematics to be eligible for admission into any programme at the University of Port Harcourt.at least, a Second-Class Honours degree in the relevant disciplines from the University of Port Harcourt or any recognized University.a Bachelor’s degree, at least, a second-class degree, while those applying for a doctorate degree must possess master’s degree in their selected course of study.Application forms must be submitted with copies of degree certificate(s), NYSC discharge certificate (Nigerians only), O/ Level certificate, birth certificate/affidavit of age declaration, marriage certificate/newspaper publication for change of name, local government identification letter (Nigerians only) or international passport (foreigners), receipts of payments for application forms. Check at the website (www.uniport.edu.ng) for the call for admission and download of necessary forms.

Appeal to potential applicants

Interested applicants are requested to visit the university website to familiarize themselves with admission requirements for each degree Programme of their interest.

Contact Information

University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Prof. Ibisime Etela
TAGDev 2.0 Programme Coordinator,
UniPort Email: admissions.asec@uniport.edu.ng
Tel.: +2347034378380; or +2348032573003

Eligibility for Scholarship

Who is eligible to apply?

Scholarships are open to candidates in Nigeria from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Candidates from conflict and post-conflict areas of Africa residing in Nigeria are also encouraged to apply. The applicant must be in position to qualify for admission into undergraduate or postgraduate programmes at University of Port Harcourt. All applicants should read and thoroughly understand the admission criteria for the relevant programmes at University of Port Harcourt. Students already having a scholarship of any kind are not eligible to benefit from this scholarship opportunity. Anyone with a double scholarship, if found, will automatically be discontinued. Beneficiaries of TAGDev scholarships are not eligible to apply.

Selection criteria

1. Be a national of Nigeria or a refugee resident in Nigeria to benefit from the national respective scholarship quota.
2. Be from economically disadvantaged, marginalized communities, and/or coming from conflict and post-conflict areas in Nigeria.
3. Be less than 25 years for undergraduate and less than 30 years for masters studies at the time of application. For refugees and internally displaced persons in Nigeria, must be 30 years for undergraduate and 35 years for masters.
4. Should have completed secondary school and/or diploma for a bachelor’s degree application not more than two years from the time of this call. For refugees and internally displaced persons, should have completed their studies at the previous level, at most, four years before.
5. The applicant should meet admission criteria to be eligible for programmes in University of Port Harcourt.
6. For admission into University of Port Harcourt for an undergraduate degree programme, one must have attained sixteen (16) years of age in addition to meeting the admission requirements stated in Section 2.1 above.
7. Demonstrate interest in agriculture, agribusiness and entrepreneurship.
8. Demonstrate leadership qualities.
9. Have commitment to working in agriculture and agricultural value chains.
10. Have a strong commitment to community transformation.
11. Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

What the scholarship covers

This is a full board comprehensive scholarship that covers: tuition fees, research costs, workshop and conference costs, living expenses including stipend and hostel, laptop, internship attachment, community engagement and field attachment, and entrepreneurship training. Consequently, considering the level of investment, successful applicants will be required to become high achievers, highly engaging and focused students/ graduates and change makers contributing to outreach services in the communities, capable of creating enterprises that create jobs for themselves and others and have personal satisfaction and dynamism.

Nature of the scholarship

This is a comprehensive scholarship with direct and indirect costs that will be covered by the programme through the implementing university where the student will be studying. Indirect costs such as participation in the international conference will be directly covered by the RUFORUM Secretariat. The following further apply:

1. Direct costs for student training will be transferred to the university as a grant payable to the university. The students will receive their respective services and entitlements from the university as the implementer and where necessary from RUFORUM.
2. All scholarships will be on a rolling basis implying that, the scholarship will be renewed on annual basis subject to satisfactory academic performance at grade B level of University of Port Harcourt.
3. Retaking more than four courses will lead to the withdrawal of the scholarship awarded to the candidate.
4. Applicants who may be discovered to have falsified information to gain advantage of the scholarship shall be disqualified on confirmation of the falsification and/or forgery.
5. Any misconduct (breaching university rules especially examination malpractice, violence towards others) on the part of the successful applicant shall lead to automatic disqualification and loss of the scholarship.
6. Successful applicants will be expected to become champions and transformative leaders, entrepreneurs and change makers at various levels and shall remain in communication with RUFORUM and the Universities as part of the Programme Alumni.

Application process and procedure

Application for university admission at University of Port Harcourt

1. Bachelor’s degree applicants

The application process will be in three (3) stages.

Stage 1: Fill-in the Google form using the following link <https://forms.gle/k8paAii6J6SWggQM9>

Stage 2: Application for admission to the programme of choice at University of Port Harcourt submitted through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) website. During registration, candidates must select UniPort as first choice institution for their preferred course of study. Registered candidates will proceed to take the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Those with national minimum cut-off point will take the UniPort placement test. Details can be found at www.uniport.edu.ng. To apply to University of Port Harcourt, applicants are required to have the following:

• O/Level certificate/statement of result
• birth certificate/affidavit of age declaration,
• marriage certificate/newspaper publication for change of name, local government identification letter (Nigerians only) or international passport (foreigners),receipts of payments for application forms.
• Check at the website (www.uniport.edu. ng) and jamb portal (https://portal.jamb. gov.ng) for the call for admission and filling of necessary forms.

Stage 3: Application for RUFORUM Scholarship. To apply for the scholarship, see section 4.2: Application for the Scholarship below.

2. Master’s degree applicants

The application process will be in three (3) stages.

Stage 1: Fill-in the Google form using the following link <https://forms.gle/k8paAii6J6SWggQM9> Stage 2: Application for admission to the programme of choice at University of Port Harcourt must be submitted through the University of Port Harcourt School of Graduate Studies website (https://www.uniport-sgs.com).

To apply to University of Port Harcourt, applicants for MSc are required to have the following:

• copies of degree certificate(s),
• NYSC discharge certificate (Nigerians only),
• O/Level certificate,
• birth certificate/affidavit of age declaration,
• marriage certificate/newspaper publication for change of name, local government identification letter (Nigerians only) or international passport (foreigners),
• Check at the website (www.uniport.edu.ng) or (https://www.uniport-sgs.com) for the call for admission and download of necessary forms.

Stage 3: Application for RUFORUM Scholarship. To apply for the scholarship, see section 4.2: Application for the Scholarship below.

Application for the scholarship

The procedure for submitting the TAGDev 2.0 scholarship application through the RUFORUM Information Management System (RIMS) is as follows:

1. Access the RIMS Web Portal through; https://rims2.ruforum.org/
2. Create your account by clicking on Register Here
3. An email will be sent to your valid email address to activate your account. Please check in the Spam or Junk for message incase activation mail is not reflected in your inbox.
4. Login using your email and password you used for creating.
5. After    successful    login,     the    Applicant Dashboard will appear with different options.
6. Go to Calls – > Scholarship Calls
7. Select the Call ID: RU/2026/TAGDev-2.0/001
8. Click Apply to start filling the Application Form.
9. Remember to save while filling the form by “Clicking Save Draft”
10. Download, print and submit it with your application form for admission to the University.
11. Submit the document in hard copy or simply attach it on the university online portal.

For any assistance, kindly contact the administrator at mcf@ruforum.org

Submission Deadline: 1^st June 2026

Dates for key Virtual Information Session Days shall be communicated in due course.

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