Supply and demand of agricultural graduates in the agriculture sector

1. Supply and demand of agricultural graduates in the agriculture sector Education, Science and Skills Development

2. This presentation: • Overview - output of agricultural education and training institutions • Examination of the size of intermediate to high skills labour force • Supply – demand and absorbtion • Key factors and themes affecting supply and demand • Recommendations

3. 1. Institutional output • Approximate total of 2550 graduates for one year 2003

4. 2. Employment in Agriculture

5. Employment by industry • Salary of >R2500 per month is proxy for intermediate to higher level skills • Approximately 67 000 workers • But subtract workers with non-agricultural skills

6. Employment by occupation

7. Employment by occupation • Salary of >R2500 per month is proxy for intermediate to higher level skills • Approximately 29 000 workers • But does not include other agriculture occupations eg: professionals, scientists etc. 9.0% 9.0% 9.0%

8. Employment by field of study • Salary of >R2500 per month is proxy for intermediate to higher level skills • Between 33 000 to 42 000 workers • But some of these may not be working in the agricultural sector

9. 3. Contribution of output to cover demand • LFS 2004 suggests that out of 308 000 “Skilled agricultural and fishery workers” there are 42 000 with degrees diplomas and certificates • We have 2550 FET to HET graduates entering the labour market • The replacement rate that can be sustained for intermediate to high skills work in agriculture is: • Between 2 550/42 000 = 6.1%

10. Changing labour market conditions • Long term decline in employment but share for agriculture rises from 12% to 13% (1995 to 2002) - this gives a 24.7% increase in real terms (Bhorat,2005) • Rising skills composition of the agricultural labour force

11. Labour market absorbtion

12. Absorbtion of graduates • 1.5% of agricultural graduates experienced of a period of unemployment – but in proportion with total share of graduates in 2000 of 1.47% (Moleke,2005) • Agricultural graduates finding work • 93% successful after 6 months • 80% successful among Humanities, Arts and Law graduates • Note: Data for higher education only - not Colleges

13. Key findings: Demand signals • Demand for skills rising with vertical and horizontal integration of product value chains • Formalisation of industry organisations is evident with positive impact: • Professional (eg:Soil Science Society of SA) • Producers (eg: SA Avocado Growers Assoc) • Service (eg: Field Guides Association) • Consumer bodies (eg: SA Red Meat Industry Company)

14. Key findings: demand patterns • Main demand for agriculture skills is in primary agriculture • Skills required outside of the range of agricultural fields eg: • Management and financial • Chemical engineering • Chemistry • Food Technology

15. Key findings: demand patterns • Occupational categories of skills upgrading needs: • Growing interest among employers in R&D activities • Sales positions have rising requirements • Farmers and Farm managers • Specific skills sets (Sectoral) eg: • Animal feeds – Feed Formulator • Seed manufacture – Seed Scientists • Public Sector - veterinarians (inter alia)

16. Key findings: general issues • Cross-cutting skills – life-skills, communication, teamwork, IT etc. • Perceptions of employers about graduates • Concerns regarding image of agriculture

17. Key findings: supply-demand • Factors creating ‘localised’ demand • Wage differentials (Public – Private) • Rural – urban differentials in supply • Intra-sectoral labour market demand imbalances • Time-based nature of demand • Geo-climatic influences

18. Key findings: supply-demand • How demand is being met: • Substitution masks ‘real’ demand • Demand is partially met by short courses with focused high skills inputs • Poor labour market information limits positive matches – but see role of associations • Demand is being met by adaptation (BAgric) in career paths • Demand can be met by conversions (BSc)

19. Recommendations • Improve dissemination and use of information in private and public sector labour markets • Dept of Agriculture website • Annual HR/Training/HRD event • Sustain quality and focus of agricultural study programmes • Race and gender differentials • Workplace skills in curriculum • Agriculture as business • Support for rural based institutions

20. Recommendations • Support stronger cooperation between training providers and employers • Support for industry associations • Facilitate higher-education industry interaction re niche training needs • Foster intergovernmental collaboration • The mission of Agricultural Colleges • The curriculum focus of Agricultural High Schools

21. Recommendations • Strategically target scarce skills • Target key occupations/programmes • Consider R&D skills • Support courses of shorter duration than programmes • AGRISETA • FET Colleges • Upskilling and in-service training as NB as pre-service education • Research • Needs analysis of targeted sectors to encourage employers to train

22. Thank You

23. Equity parameters

24. Challenges for understanding demand and supply • Measuring Labour force growth (and decline) • Monitoring education outputs

25. Growth in education system

26. Areas of specialisation

27. Shift to formal work