This year, the annual joint meeting of the 29 Agriculture Training Institutes (ATIs), both private and public, took place in Morogoro from 29th to 30th of June. For Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) this meeting also meant an important next step for the Curriculum Implementation Support for Training Institutes (CISTI) project, as presentations about the project’s progress were made to the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and all ATI Principles. Through the CISTI project SAT supported the coordination and planning of the meeting.
On June 29th, the meeting was an internal one between the PS and all Principles of the 14 Ministry of Agriculture Training Institutes (MATIs). Presentations and discussions took place on the matter of the current status of the curriculum implementation, successes and how challenges can be tackled, but also on how MATIs can become financially independent in the future.
On June 30th, the actual joint meeting of MATIs and PATIs (15 Private Agriculture Training Institutes) took place. This meeting focused on the direction of CISTI and on a sustainable review and implementation of the curricula. For the first time, the new Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Agriculture (since March 2020), Gerald Musabila Kusaya, has attended and chaired the meeting. At the high table the following people took their seats:
- Dr. Wilhelm Mafuru (Director of Training, Extension Services and Research Division, DTER)
- Janet Maro (SAT, CEO Programme)
- Hilda T. Kinanga (Director of Administration for Human Ressources Management, DAHRM)
- Moses Kabogo (Lutheran World Relief, Senior Country Program Manager, Tanzania)
- Mahija Waziri (National Council for Technical Education, NACTE)
Presentations about the CISTI project progress
For our CISTI project, this meeting was an important meeting, as the project has entered its second phase. After a successful year 2019, where it was in a pilot phase, the project is now fully ongoing for the next three years (2020-2022). It aims to support 29 Agricultural Training Institutes, both public and private, to successfully implement and integrate organic farming, gender in agriculture, environmental management, cooperatives in agriculture and communication skills in the new training curriculum for agriculture production on certificate and diploma levels.
During the meeting, our Project Manager Mgeta Daud presented about the expectations and the roles of ATIs. Afterwards, Kashindye Salum, the Assistant Project Manager, presented the preliminary report on the labour market needs survey to inform the review of six curricula which are: a) crop production, b) horticulture, c) irrigation, d) land use planning, e) food production and nutrition, and f) agro-mechanisation. This report was based on a survey SAT carried out among employers, graduates, farmers and professionals which involved personal visits and online questionnaires. Godfrey Edward, the Curriculum Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, presented twice: first, about the sustainable strategy for reviewing curricula used by ATIs; and second, about the proposal by the Minister of Agriculture of introducing a one-year internship for the students to gain practical experience. Afterwards, a fruitful discussion on these topics took place.
2020 Update for CISTI project
As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, new ICT equipment is being purchased in preperation to implement the Distance E-Learning Training. One set of equipment for every ATI, one set for the SAT HQ and one for the Ministry. This offers plenty of new opportunities, as it allows for some of the trainings to take place online. In the future, this will save resources, both in time and money, as people do not have to travel far distances from all ATIs spread across all Tanzania. At the moment, compendiums and manuals are being developed for new modules: Principles of Co-operatives in Agriculture for National Technical Award level 5 and Basic Communication Skills for National Technical Award level 4.
CISTI is kindly supported by LED Liechtenstein Development Service (funding) and the United Republic of Tanzania, Ministry of Agriculture (coordination).
