I warmly welcome all to the Department of Agricultural Sciences in the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences of South Eastern University College. The Department was conceived out of the realization that it is important for those who depend on rangelands for their livelihoods to use and conserve the natural resource for sustainable development. For the latter to be possible, it calls for adequate understanding of the resource by the direct user, the technician and the manager. The need for proper management and conservation of the flora and fauna in the arid and semi-arid lands, which form close to 80% of Kenya’s land area, is becoming increasingly important. This is because of increased human population and the accompanying need for more resources to sustain it