Potipher Tembo
8 July 2009
IN October last year, Central Province Permanent Secretary Denny Lumbama said the Government had placed agriculture at the centre stage of the country's economic development.
For doing so, he said farmers needed to be trained in new and improved technologies.
In recent years, Zambia has seen the mushrooming of private institutions like primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities which have greatly supplemented the Government in providing education and training.
Common among the colleges are those dealing in accounts and other related courses.
These institutions have gone a long way in supplementing the Government in as far as training is concerned.
But there are very few colleges, apart from those run by the Government, providing training in agriculture.
As mining which is Zambia's main economy has been precarious in recent times with more miners losing employment, the alternative has always been thought to be agriculture.
Many people, especially those being retired, have always looked forward to agriculture which they say is the only lasting solution to any country's economy.
The lack of employment has also led to many school leavers becoming small-time farmers as long as they secure some piece of land.
As the demand for agriculture grows, it is pertinent that people get trained in this field if it is to be viable.
Although not many agricultural colleges are run by private entrepreneurs, a few that have been there have helped tremendously in producing agriculturalists.
One such institution is the Copperbelt School of Agriculture which is based in Ndola at the former Zambia Railways offices.
The college's director, Joseph Nyirenda, said the institution which was founded way back in 2003 has so far trained over 100 agriculturalists.
"We started in 2003 with 10 students. About 130 students have been trained at the college," said Mr Nyirenda.
The college takes on mainly grade 12 school leavers who undergo two years in general agriculture training.
Apart from training grade 12 school leavers, the college also trains underprivileged people from the residents development committees (RDCs) free of charge.
"We train underprivileged people who could not afford to go to colleges on their own. We ask the RDCs in places like Kawama and Mushili centres where there are handicapped people to give us those who want to be trained in agriculture. We are targeting to train about 250 handicapped people," said Mr Nyirenda.
The college has been offering certificate courses is now looking forward to introducing diploma courses once it expands.
Judith Kapenda, who is the principal at the college, said the institution was one of those that have never been funded by any non-governmental organisations (NGOs) although it has been assisiting the underprivilleged people in society and for this reason, she appealled for support so that they could construct their own building and enroll more students.
"We are appealing to NGOs to help us construct a school as we have acquired a piece of land. We need a big permanent school so that we can accommodate those coming from outside the Copperbelt. We also need computers because our intention is to improve food production in order to reduce poverty," said Ms Kapenda.
She said the institution provides general agriculture - crop and animal husbandry, farm management, farm engineering, fish farming and communication skills.
Once the pupils complete their courses, they are attached to some commercial farms as farm managers while others become managers in some outlets dealing with agriculture.
"Other people we train join the Zambia National Service, others become farmers and others run their parents' or relatives' farms.
"With many people getting to agriculture in recent times, we would like to expand our college and introduce diploma courses. It is for this reason that we are appealing for support from NGOs," said Ms Kapenda.
Because of the importance agriculture plays in the economy of the nation, it would be prudent that more colleges including those in Government and private institutions are introduced.
"These colleges should also be expected to be productive so that they contribute to the food basket and help in poverty reduction.
Last year, the Government implored agricultural training institutions to put in practice what they teach by engaging in production and be self-sustaining.
Mr Lumbama said once training institutions put into practice what they were teaching by venturing into production of crops and livestock, the colleges would be able to sustain themselves and contribute to national development.
He said farmers needed to be trained in new and improved technologies in agriculture such as organic farming, and sustainable and conservation farming so that they were abreast with new trends.
"Agriculture training institutions play a very important role in improving farm productivity.The Government's overall objective in agricultural training is to ensure that a critical mass of sustainable and adequately-trained manpower is produced so as to meet the needs of agriculture both for public and private sectors," said Mr Lumbama.
Indeed, there is need for NGOs to support some private agricultural training colleges such as the Copperbelt School of Agriculture for them to contribute positively to the nation.
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