General monitoring and progress discussions for “Strengthening skills and training capacity in the horticulture sector in Uganda” project
Recently, MSM Project Director Andre Dellevoet visited the OKP Uganda project to discuss the project’s progress. During this visit beneficiary institutions Kyambogo University and the Bukalasa Agricultural College were visited.
Kyambogo University
As part of the project a greenhouse investment has been made at Kyambogo University. Currently the greenhouse construction is still in progress and during the meeting, organized between the management of the university and the project, the emphasis was put on the need to take the final steps in order to organize a festive opening in June to which several consortium partners will be invited.
While the greenhouse is not operational yet, the project management and the university look forward to the launch of the investment and expectations are high for the performance of the greenhouse. The idea behind the greenhouse is to launch it as a separate business unit that has a two-fold purpose:
- Run as a profitable business to be financially sustainable
- Use as a learning facility for students to put theory into practice and prepare them for their first agricultural jobs after graduating
Furthermore, there are plans to organize an workplace program for students. The Kilimo Kisasa Farm was visited by teachers from both Kyambogo University and Bukalasa Agricultural College and they were enthusiastic of what an internship at a real farm can offer the students. The next steps to realize this project activity is to prepare learning goals in order for them to start their workplace training in September 2022.
Lastly, the development of the curriculum for Kyambogo University has been completed and is now waiting for approval from the school senate and ministry before implementation.
Bukalasa Agricultural College (BAC)
At Bukalasa Agricultural College an investment was done as well, namely an irrigation facility in the already existing greenhouse. The greenhouse facilities at BAC are managed by students and it was found that they are also used as training locations for local farmers, businesses and students.
During the visit, it was decided that the ongoing Triple Helix collaboration between academia, the private sector and government would be concentrated and continued under a new platform called Hortifresh It is hoped that this will give the project more sustainability.
About the project
This project titled “Strengthening skills and training capacity in the horticulture sector in Uganda“ is managed by MSM who together with consortium partners Q-Point B.V., Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Ecopolis Europa and Egerton University capacitate Kambogo University (KyU) and Bukalasa Agricultural College (BAC). The project aims at strengthening the skills to improve the horticultural situation in Uganda. This is mainly achieved via strengthening the educational situation at A-TVET level. The project focuses on three main output areas: curriculum review and development, institutional capacity development at KyU and BaC and the establishment of a triple helix horticulture innovation platform. Main activities of the project are curriculum development, module development, training of teachers in activating didactics, strengthening linkages with the horticultural practise, and stimulating horticultural entrepreneurship.
Orange Knowledge Programme
These projects are part of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) which is funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic. For more information click here.
MSM's Expert Centre on Emerging Economies
This institutional collaboration project is part of MSM's Expert Centre for Emerging Economies. The department is an expert centre on local economic development in emerging and developing markets. We capacitate managers and professionals from government, private sector, NGOs, and post-secondary education in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. We offer consultancy and customized training programs, and we manage complex projects in key sectors, e.g. water, agriculture and health. For more information click here.
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