WG 3

1. WG 3 Vocational Skills for Agriculture and Rural Development Chair: Hon. Ms Janat Mukwaya Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & Fisheries Members:

2. Key Issues Raised by WG 3 • Rural sector as only host for country population doubling every 20 years • Education alienates young people from agriculture; school leavers desire white collar jobs; can end up back home with nothing • Education/training in rural areas as passport for migration to urban areas • Agricultural training as an occupation of last resort • Pressure to achieve Universal Primary Education and MDGs, regardless of its practical meaning for rural communities. • Education/training has often not addressed poverty reduction nor necessarily led to viable livelihoods • Return from investment in education/ training can be unclear • Skill development as additional burden for overloaded school curriculum • Skill development empowers people: they know own rights, valorize indigenous knowledge, cope with disaster, be more active inside community • No blueprint for vocational skill development: what is the context, who needs to increase efficiency, for what, who can do it???

3. Process for Prioritizing Vocational Skill Needs Defining the “demand” • Analyze national policy objectives and development plans/priorities • Analyze domestic and external market opportunities for food, agric and other “rural” products/services/jobs • Assess agro-ecol/ socio-econ context, production systems and potentials, and/or concerns/needs of rural people. • Determine demand for specific vocational skill needs/ key target groups/ expected outcomes’ Defining the “supply” • Assess a vailable/potential institutional & financial resources to satisfy skill ‘demand’ • Coordinate ministries, training institutions and other partners (business & NGOs) to build synergies in planning & implementing appropriate strategy for skill development • Custom design & delivery of skill development programs (formal and/or informal) for specific targeted groups/needs • Monitoring & evaluation of relevance/ effectiveness of skill development on food security, poverty reduction, income generation & sustainable development of rural communities. Getting organized to carry out the process: Who Steers? Who Executes? Who pays?

4. Relevant Approaches for Planning for Vocational Training in ARD • Emphasis of skill development approach on learning outcomes not training inputs • Planning for vocational skills for ARD may need different approaches from that employed for general education • Various conceptual approaches used for planning policies and programmes for vocational skills in rural areas • Meaning of “vocation” for rural people (often with multiple income sources) vs for urban people • Livelihood approaches (i.e. people-centred, holistic analyses, household decision-making) as appropriate for defining skill needs. • A rights approach can strengthen self-esteem of learners and increase accountability of education/ training institutions to rural community • Partnerships approaches ensure that skills development matches work & income opportunities

5. Priority Target Groups for Skill Development Many different groups can benefit from vocational education, ,i.e. • Small producers (crops, livestock and fishing) for subsistence, food security and income generation, commercialisation • Rural poor • Large, rich farmers in rural areas who need high-level professional knowledge and business skills. • Girls and boys (non gendered training) • Primary students as future farmers (also as conduit to transfer technology to parents, i.e. present farmers) • Post-primary students

6. Strategic Topics for Vocational Skill DevelopmentPeople related topics • Human rights/issues (e.g. gender, self-esteem, value of local knowledge, citizen participation, etc) • Livelihoods, learning and problem-solving approaches • Community empowerment strategies • Farmer field schools • Human nutrition and diets • Agri-business management (costs, finance) • Agricultural marketing and trade • Income and employment generation especially for youth

7. Strategic Topics for Vocational Skill DevelopmentProduction related topics • High-value agriculture and food products • Vegetable gardening • Livestock management and production in arid & semi-arid regions of Africa • Best practices for modernization of agriculture/farming systems • Natural resource management • Post-harvest technologies

8. RECOMMANDATIONS • 1 - NECESSITE DE REFONDER LES DISPOSITIFS DE FORMATION DES RURAUX sur la base de leurs potentialites, de leurs aspirations et de leurs besoins • 2 - NECESSITE D’UNE INTEGRATION/COORDINATION DES DISPOSITIFS DE FORMATION DES RURAUX ENTRE LES DIFFERENTS MINISTERES CONCERNES (Education, Agriculture, etc.) • 3 - NECESSITE D'UNE ELABORATION DE STRATEGIES DE FORMATION EN MILIEU RURAL