TEDMAG, Agriculture Ministry intensify initiatives to modernize agriculture training in Ghana

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is intensifying its modernization drive for the sector, this time, through all five colleges of agriculture across the country. It is part of the initiative dubbed, “Technical education development for modernized agriculture in Ghana” funded by the Canadian High Commission.

Facilities in these training installations including science laboratories and home science departments of the training institutions are being upgraded. Chief Director at the Ministry, Robert Ahinkorah, says developing technical education is critical to achieving Ghana’s agriculture modernization objective.

“It is about modernizing agriculture, and we believe that the training institutions are key in doing that because they require a very conducive and modernized environment. By that, training and teaching agriculture will be very attractive to the students. So that we can achieve the goal of modernizing agriculture, and I am sure the students will be excited.

He spoke at the handing-over event at the Kwadaso College of Agriculture in the Ashanti Region. The event was meant to commence the rehabilitation works of the science laboratory and upgrade the home science department at both Kwadaso College of Agriculture in Ashanti and Ohawu College of Agriculture in the Volta Region.

On behalf of the Kwadaso College of Agriculture, the school’s Principal, Rev Benjamin Asante Mensah, said it will facilitate agriculture education and training.

“We have the mandate to train these youngsters at the forefront of the agriculture revolution. We know we are in a global village, so we must be abreast with current trends. We are running courses in which we have people from outside who speak to our students. With this intervention, we would be in a position to train our lecturers better who intend will teach our students”.

The contractor is expected to execute this in 4 months. “We really would want to see that this is done on schedule. We expect that the facilities will be maintained so that at least they can serve their purpose for a long time. We want to thank Canada for its assistance with the MAG program. Furthermore, we are looking forward to more partnerships with them,” Mr. Ahinkorah added.

Being implemented by the ministry of agriculture through TEDMAG and other agencies, the four years project worth 15milion Canadian Dollars is in its last lap.

The TEDMAG project is a Consortium of the  University of Missouri in the US, the University  of Missouri Assistant  Program,  and  the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Officials say it is part of the bigger modernization agriculture project funded by the Canadian High Commission.

It has three focus areas – which include an upgrade and retools of the infrastructure in these colleges of agriculture to support better and teaching outcomes focusing on ICT, Science, Home Science, and Library support in some cases.

The others are improving or upgrading  the curriculum of agriculture training colleges in Ghana – a curriculum that trains extension agents in the country (support their tutors to teach the revised curriculum).

The project also works with the extension services at the various department of agriculture at the district level to revise and upgrade the extension delivery mechanism.

The director at the University of Missouri Assistant Program (UMAP) and member of the TEDMAG project, Mawuli Asigbe, describes the development as a game-changer as far as agriculture programming and development in Ghana is concerned.

“We are looking forward to a change or uplift in the level of exposure, and education, that students will gain from this new infrastructure and a revised curriculum.

That way their learning outcomes will improve, we are looking forward to them having a new experience that is relevant to facilitate market-oriented agriculture in the country. So that they are not only coming out with classroom knowledge, but go into practical agriculture as well”.

The five-year project which is in its last lap is worth $15 million this year. Meanwhile, due to COVID-19, stakeholders are looking forward to an extension.