The Second National ATVET (Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education Training) conference entitled – Sustainability for Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation – took place in the Adama, Oromia Regional State this week, including those from Dalhousie University – Canada’s premier agricultural university involved in various agricultural projects within Ethiopia.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, the conference heard from a slew of speakers, including: from Moritz Schmidt, the Senior Technical Advisors with Colleges and Institute Canada, Lana Bos, the Education and Training Developer at Dalhousie University and Claudia Mitchell Honorary (Prof.) of McGill Institute for Human Development and Well-being – on how to move the agricultural agenda forward.
“The National ATVET conference showcases the successes and challenges of the ATVET colleges and identify ways in which it can be sustained so as to produce, complement and skilled labor to enhance agricultural transformation for the country,” said Germame Garuma, the Agricultural Extension Director General of Ethiopia. “This comes at a time when the government of Ethiopia is implementing the second GTP, which requires highly skilled, motivated and innovative mid-level agricultural professionals capable of driving the commercial agriculture both in the public and the private sector.”
Ethiopia continues to have high hopes in its agricultural sector, and the ATVET colleges created across the nation are to be a strategy to help develop its agricultural sector as it moves towards a middle income nation status in less than ten years.
“Agriculture is one of the dominant sectors and the foundation of Ethiopia’s economy, contributing immensely to its economic growth. The country has been promoting and supporting the public extension service as a key instrument to meet the agricultural sector development objectives,” Paul Sasanga, the Addis Ababa based Manager of the Agricultural Transformation Through Strong Vocational Education (ATTSVE) Project, Dalhousie University in Ethiopia told the gathering.
