Optimizing horticulture in Ethiopia at Agarfa TVET College

Requesting partner(s):

Agarfa ATVET College

Consortium partner(s):

IPC Groene Ruimte (Netherlands), Gender2Connect

Context

Q-Point B.V. implements, together with IPC Groene Ruimte and Gender2Connect, a series of training sessions with a focus on technical skills for staff, teachers and colleges of both Agarfa ATVET College and regional stakeholders, through short training sessions, using the training-of-trainers approach.

The college works in line with the Ethiopian government’s plan to improve agricultural production and productivity. Agarfa ATVET College graduates are expected to be the first line of contact with the community and the skilled workforce that industries need for the day-to-day management of investments. In this regard, the Agarfa ATVET College aims to deliver highly qualified technical graduates who can support farmers and industries.

Follow-up of previous project

Since the start of the NICHE project (ETH178, running until 2017) in 2013, Agarfa ATVET College has been structurally working on the capacity development of their staff in fields of small-scale and micro-irrigation and other related subjects to agriculture in Ethiopia. Although there now is extra human capacity and training infrastructure available (irrigation demonstration field, computer lab), there is still a need for improvement of training quality and employability of graduates to be more successful in outreach and extension, considering the demand of industries and further practical support and skills development.

Blended learning

During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of developing and offering blended training courses (both classroom and online) on irrigation, water, post-harvest management and entrepreneurship has become more visible. In critical periods (e.g., political instability and diseases), students, farmers in the area and other stakeholders can thus still access the services of Agarfa ATVET College.

A blended learning environment is included in the development of the courses. The sessions are based on the training needs of Agarfa ATVET College:

Management of irrigation systems
Post-harvest management
Incubation and entrepreneurial skills targeting girls and women

Project goal and outputs

The college works in line with the Ethiopian government’s plan to improve agricultural production and productivity. Graduates from Agarfa ATVET College are expected to be the first line of contact with the community and the skilled workforce needed by the industry for the daily management of investments. In this context, Agarfa ATVET College aims to produce highly qualified technical graduates who can support farmers and industries.