The government is developing a practical training curriculum to equip young Ugandans with skills in agricultural mechanisation, irrigation, farm structures and soil testing as it seeks to address a shortage of technical expertise in the sector.
The initiative, led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), is also intended to create employment opportunities for young people and reduce reliance on foreign skilled workers.
Dr James Higenyi, a principal veterinary officer at MAAIF, said Saturday that the skills shortage was undermining efforts to commercialise and transform agriculture.
He said the gaps were particularly pronounced in farm structure construction, machinery operation and maintenance, irrigation and design.
‘So, as a ministry, we thought it imperative to ensure that we address these challenges if we have to transform the agriculture sector,’ Dr Higenyi said.
The ministry is holding a three-day stakeholder meeting involving farmers, universities, technical experts and the Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB) to validate the draft curriculum before it is submitted for accreditation.
Dr Higenyi said the proposed programme would focus on practical skills, technical knowledge and work ethics.
‘We want a knowledgeable person, a person who is skilled, but also in terms of behaviour, a person with attitude to provide a service,’ he said.
Under the proposed model, trainees will combine classroom learning with practical, on-the-job training.
For example, trainees in farm structure construction would spend two months at an accredited training institution before moving to farms and companies for practical experience.
‘At the end of eight months, for example, for a farm structure curriculum, that person will be awarded with a certificate by UBTEB. And this person now will be ready to provide a service in the community,’ Dr Higenyi said.
Reducing reliance on foreign skills
The ministry says the programme is partly aimed at addressing the situation where foreign workers are sometimes hired to perform practical agricultural jobs despite Uganda having a large pool of unemployed young people.
‘Uganda exports labour. So actually, as you are saying that other people from other countries are coming to fill the gap that we have, that is what the policy is now addressing,’ Dr Higenyi said.
The proposed curriculum will also cover soil fertility management, an area researchers say is critical to improving agricultural productivity.
Dr Kayuki Kayizi, a soil scientist at the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), said repeated harvesting without adequate replacement of soil nutrients had contributed to declining soil fertility.
He said farmers need to adopt measures including the use of organic and inorganic fertilisers, crop rotation and soil erosion control.
The proposed programme will train young people in communities to provide basic and rapid soil-testing services using portable testing kits.
‘The government felt that if they can train younger people who are available in the villages, they can just basically get a sample, put it in a machine and it tells you what this soil lacks,’ Dr Kayizi said.
He said the service would help farmers identify nutrient deficiencies before purchasing fertilisers, potentially reducing unnecessary expenditure.
Mechanisation skills
The curriculum is also targeting shortages of agricultural machinery operators and maintenance technicians as the government pushes mechanisation to increase productivity.
Michael Muledhu, a sales team leader at Motor Center East Africa, a tractor distributor, said the training would help bridge the gap between highly trained professionals and farmers who lack access to technical support.
The ministry says once the curriculum is validated and accredited by UBTEB, it will create a pool of certified agricultural service providers who can operate within communities.
Officials say the programme is intended to address two challenges at once: youth unemployment and the shortage of practical skills needed to modernise Uganda’s agriculture sector.