AKTC hosts Farm Managers from Ghana

Our BMEL financed Zambian-German Agricultural Knowledge and Training Centre (AKTC) have received a team of farm managers from Ghana for a one month training.

The three managers are all working at Adidwan Pig Farm and Trading Enterprise in Ashanti region of Ghana. They share different responsibilities that contribute to the prosperity of their farm.

The managers who will be at AKTC for a period of 4 weeks will receive trainings on farm machinery, tractor operation and maintenance, vegetable production, livestock production as well as the field crop production for crops like maize, soya beans and wheat so as to improve their farming practices back in Ghana.

So far, these farm managers have been exposed to a number of short intensive trainings on tractor operation and maintenance, combine harvester operation, planting and the seed drill of wheat crop and farming as a business.

The main facilitators of these courses have been the AKTC Crop Production Specialist Leslie de Jager, the Machinery Specialist Martin Sikanyika and the AKTC tractor operators. In addition, a “farming as a business” course was taught by our specialist trainer, Mr. Willis Mhlanga from Zimbabwe.

The three farm managers came at the right time when AKTC was extending out two trainings (farming as a business and tractor operation and maintenance) to Mpika at the Zambia college of Agriculture (ZCA) in Northern Province of Zambia.

This was a great opportunity for these trainees to explore Zambia as well as to interact with the farmers and students in Mpika.

Since AKTC currently does not offer trainings in livestock management and horticulture, other farms around the Centre have been engaged to help in delivering the knowledge that is required by the trainees on these subjects. Also, the Conservation Farming Unit (CFU) one of the AKTC partners, has been asked to  deliver training on conservation agriculture.

Furthermore, the Centre has planned for two more intensive trainings (tractor driving and combine harvester operation) to be added on the training schedule for these farm managers.

It is hoped that by the end of their stay at AKTC, the farm managers shall be able to apply their newly acquired knowledge in their home country.

AKTC still looks forward to hosting interested trainees from other African countries,  especially those who would like enhance their knowledge and skills in agricultural mechanization, farming as a business and the crop production processes of Soya bean, wheat and potato crops.

For further information please visit our website www.aktczambia.com or contact our team leader, Mr. Helmut Anschütz helmut.anschuetz [at] afci.de