Gap Analysis of Higher Agricultural Education Competencies among the Students for Industrial and Farmers’ Needs

The study was conducted to outline competencies relevant to the need of farmers and industries present in an agriculture graduate for carrying out their assigned duties. As inferred by mean score of the desired status, the managerial competency was identified to be the most needed one among the agricultural graduates as perceived by the students followed by entrepreneurial, extension skills, technical, market/understanding government policy, communication/ICT and personal competency. The findings of the study will aid higher education planners in India to develop curriculum to prepare and train future agricultural graduates to educate, inform and entertain farmers in an efficient way and fulfil the requirements of the job as required by the industries in an agriculture graduates. Specifically, the research sought to determine students and farmers perceptions of essential competencies needed by agri-graduates enrolled in the agriculture curriculum. The study provides for an initial attempt to gain insight into how higher agricultural education institutions can revitalize their curricula to better prepare their students for the market place and to keep pace with the changing nature of the environment around them.

Students' opinions regarding self-employment opportunities in agriculture, at the national university of Lesotho

ABSTRACT Most developing countries including Lesotho, faces a major challenge of creating jobs for their high education graduates. This matter hard presses policy makers to advocate for training which equips graduates to venture into self-employment for job creation. This study therefore intended to establish students' opinions regarding self-employment opportunities in agriculture. The key objectives were: to describe students' knowledge of potential self-employment opportunities in agriculture; to assess students' willingness to engage in self-employment in agriculture; to identify factors constraining graduates from venturing into self-employment in agriculture. Sixty-six final year students in the faculty of agriculture were purposefully selected for the study. A structured questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument for this study and data were analysed descriptively using statistical indicators including percentages, mean and standard deviation. Findings revealed that Students perceived that agriculture has a potential of creating employment for huge number of people and they are willing to undergo agri-business after completion of their studies. It is therefore recommended that practical agribusiness training be included in undergraduate agriculture curriculum to entrench this skill. The government should support agricultural graduates by addressing all the identified constraints such as marketing, input supply, credit, training, extension services and poor storage facilities. Keywords: Students' opinions, Self-employment, Agriculture, Agri-business.

TEACHERS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE CURRICULUM IN KENYA’S ARID AND SEMI ARID SECONDARY SCHOOLS

One of the major challenges of the 21st century is the increasing level of academic qualifications at the expense of relevance in education. School agriculture is one of the subjects which require teachers who as the principal implementers of the curriculum must be able to interpret agriculture curriculum objectives to meet societal needs. However, implementation of agriculture curriculum in Arid and Semi Arid Land (ASAL) secondary schools has fallen short of its expectations as it has not significantly influenced agricultural activities both in school and surrounding communities. Thus, the benefit of implementing agriculture curriculum in ASALs is yet to be fully achieved. The research sought to document the teacher factors influencing implementation of secondary school agriculture curriculum in ASAL schools in Kenya. The research focused on teacher training, teacher technical knowledge and skills about Dry Land Agriculture [DLA] practices and training and support. The research was carried out in ASAL counties of Baringo, Makueni and Narok. Survey research design was used. The researcher developed a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain data on the teacher factors from 88 agriculture teachers. The research results showed that most teachers were trained and professionally qualified thus expected to translate the curriculum objectives to learning activities relevant to ASALS. However, agriculture teachers were found to be deficient in terms of technical knowhow on DLA practices among them, insitu water harvesting and use of sunken beds. Agriculture teachers received insufficient support towards professional development. The support did not aim at DLA knowledge and skill enhancement towards agriculture curriculum implementation. Agriculture teachers’ inadequacy on DLA practices’ technical knowhow and lack of support towards professional development was impacting negatively on agriculture curriculum implementation in ASAL schools. The Government has a responsibility of ensuring that all ASAL schools are staffed with qualified teacher. Secondary school administrations in ASALs need to support teachers on continuous trainings that are relevant to agriculture curriculum implementation. Agriculture training program developers need to focus more on the acquisition of technical know on all DLA practices. Addressing the training inadequacies among agriculture teachers in ASAL schools will lead to a competent staff who can translate curriculum objectives into learning experiences that promote DLA in ASALs. This translation will in turn influence agricultural activities both in school and in the society for improved agricultural production. Keywords: agriculture teachers, curriculum implementation, arid and semi arid lands, dry land agriculture.

Using the AGsploration: the Science of Maryland Agriculture Curriculum as a Tool to Increase Youth Appreciation and Understanding of Agriculture and Science

AGsploration: The Science of Maryland Agriculture is a 24-lesson, peer-reviewed curriculum that includes experiential hands-on activities and built-in pre-/post-evaluation tools. Lesson topics include production agriculture, the environment and nutrition with emphasis on how science relates to each topic. Student pre-/post- evaluation data reflects participation in AGsploration positively affects students’ attitudes about agriculture and science. Separate evaluations were developed to survey two groups of trained teen teachers about the curriculum immediately following their training, 1-2 years after using the curriculum and another 3-4 years post involvement. The results demonstrated that teen teachers were an effective way to disseminate the curriculum and these same teens increased their agriculture knowledge, life skills and interest in agriculture science education and careers. A similar evaluation was conducted with adult educators following a training session and another 1-2 years after actively using the curriculum. This data suggests that the curriculum is well received and valued.

Agshare Open Knowledge: Improving Rural Communities through University Student Action Research

The aim of AgShare is to create a scalable and sustainable collaboration of existing organizations for African publishing, localizing, and sharing of science-based teaching and learning materials that fill critical resource gaps in African MSc agriculture curriculum. Shared innovative practices are emerging through the AgShare projects, not only for creating and sharing Open Educational Resources (OER), but also for collaborating with stakeholders and with students to bridge the gap between theory and local practice in African university agriculture curriculum.