2nd Field Day of the Zambian-German Agricultural Training and Knowledge Centre (ATKC)

The ATKC project is now in its third year of operation and is offering practice-oriented training in modern agricultural machinery and sustainable agricultural production to emergent and commercial farmers, tractor drivers, students and lecturers from agricultural training institutions in Zambia. A total of approximately 2,000 training days have been implemented up to September 2016, with a 25% participation rate of female trainees.

On the 29^th of September the second open field day of the AKTC took place. The focus of this year’s field day was on demonstrating of diesel saving and soil conservation techniques, as well as the wheat harvest and potato growing. It included a “potato spotlight” where visitors could discuss potato growing under regional conditions with experts and potato machinery and input providers It also showcased the potato harvest on the demonstration field.

The German project partners presented and demonstrated their machinery and inputs to interested farmers and potential customers throughout the day.

About 200 visitors took the opportunity to visit the AKTC field day. Not    only farmers from the region visited the field day but also representatives from the Zambian and German Ministries of Agriculture, the German Embassies in Pretoria and Lusaka and the High Commissioner of Malawi in Zambia. The newly-appointed German Ambassador to Zambia together with a representative from the German Ministry of Agriculture and the AKTC Team Leader welcomed the visitors and addressed the importance of the Training Centre for the agricultural education in Zambia.  

The day preceding the field day, the AKTC Steering Committee Meeting took place in the Ministry of Agriculture, in which all project partners reviewed the activities and results achieved and agreed on the planning for the remaining project period.

AFC Consultants International (lead company) has been implementing the Zambian-German Agricultural Training and Knowledge Centre since August 2014 in cooperation with DLG International, IAK AGRAR CONSULTING and DEULA Nienburg , It is a Private Public Partnership Project, financed under the Economic Cooperation Programme of the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).

The Zambian Ministry of Agriculture is the political partner of the project is; implementing partners are the Zambian National Farmers Union (ZNFU) and the Golden Valley Agricultural Research Trust (GART). German private sector project partners are manufacturers of agricultural machinery, irrigation equipment, seeds and chemicals (Amazone, Bayer Crop Science, BayWa, Beinlich, CLAAS, Europlant, Grimme, Fliegl, Lemken, Pöttinger, Rauch, Riela and Solana).

The project is situated at the GART research station near Chisamba, approximately 70 km north of Lusaka, where 60-80 ha arable land has been made available by GART for demonstration and trial areas.

For further information on the activities of the AKTC please contact:

Mr. Helmut Anschütz (Team Leader) helmut.anschuetz [at] afci.de

Mrs. Tesa Weiss (Project Manager) tesa.weiss [at] afci.de