IT has been a surprise to many observers that institutions of higher learning such as those involved in teaching agricultural skills are always short of money and they all the time look up to the Government for assistance.

It has been hard to imagine why colleges that train people in various aspects of agriculture have problems like food shortages when they have the necessary expertise to engage in productive and profitable ventures.

Lecturers at these institutions are highly qualified such that it should not be a problem for them to use their knowledge to generate funds to help meet some of the food requirements.

Why should colleges like Chipembi Farm College, Monze College of Agriculture or Natural Resources Development College (NRDC) suffer food shortages when they have the necessary skills?

What constraints do these institutions face that make them fail to become surplus food producers such that communities around them can buy agricultural produce from them?

Is it impossible to utilise the land reserved for practicals by students to an extent where they can become self sufficient?

It does not therefore come as a surprise that Central Province Permanent Secretary, Denny Lumbama raised this issue and challenged the colleges to use their pool of skills to become self sufficient.

While the Government has the obligation to provide funds, these institutions must take up initiatives to raise funds using the skills available to them instead of perennially asking for money even when they are able to improve their welfare and operations without waiting for state money.

It is possible to engage in such ventures without losing focus of their core business of providing skills. In fact, students who go for training can help in providing manpower as they learn the skills during practicals.

This also applies to colleges that provide training in carpentry, metal fabrication and other technical crafts.

What these colleges should be doing is to ask the Government for some of seed capital to enable them begin utilising their skills and exploiting business opportunities that are available.

The Government has limited funds and colleges will always find themselves facing operational problems if they continue to rely solely on the state.

Part of the solution lies in exploring business ventures using the expertise they already possess.