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Chapter 5 Sustainable agricultural intensification 171
Agricultural education
A new and broader approach to, and a new emphasis on, agricultural education and
training are required for two reasons. The first is to provide the next generation with
the skills, understanding and innovative capacity that they require to practice
sustainable agricultural intensification – as well as to strengthen individual
capabilities and human capital that are important for better addressing risk, achieving
food security, and taking part in rural development and growth. Agriculture must be
accorded prestige, and sustainable agricultural intensification must be recognized
and presented as modern and profitable, so that the
aspirations of rural youth – girls as well as boys –
can converge around it. The second reason is to train
a new generation of agricultural specialists, scientists
and service providers, who can work with
smallholder farmers in new ways to enable them to
develop the skills needed to make sustainable
agricultural intensification work.
In many developing countries, agricultural
education and training (AET) has been neglected
both by ministries of agriculture and of education,
and abandoned by the donor community. School
curricula are often designed for urban schools, and
then applied without adaptation in schools in rural
areas, 276 which means that they are unlikely to
respond to the specific needs of rural youth in terms
of either life or economic skills. In such a framework,
there may no longer be room for the agricultural
education that used to be a part of the school
syllabus in many countries – a trend that requires
urgent attention and reversal.
NGO-run rural education programmes can be
found in many countries – particularly in remote
rural areas and poor communities where the
presence of government services may be weak.
Many such programmes have a broader orientation
than traditional agricultural education, and they
start from the assumption that literacy and
numeracy are prerequisites for developing other
skills, and that literacy is also a precondition
for empowerment. A review of such programmes
in Asia confirms that those “…which integrate
“You understand things better [ with
education]… Working the land is a job.
If you study you can improve your
methods. You can change and be more
efficient. For instance, in cattle breeding
you can understand why you need a
veterinarian. Take artificial insemination
of cattle: it can help improve the breeds
so that you can have a lot of milk.
[Going to school was helpful because]
I understand the logic behind whatever
activity I carry out. And I am more
efficient. I know how to use fertilizers for
instance. I can make projections and set
objectives for myself.”
Oumar Diédhiou,
male, 22 years, Senegal
“Undoubtedly they can also farm but if
they study well then farming will also
be done in a better manner. If they do
farming and if they have not studied,
well then how can they do farming
properly? A person can also get ahead
with farming. It is not necessary that he
goes away. Does well, does other
things and not necessarily has a
permanent job. We say that one may
simply do farming but the education
should be a good one.”
Shazia Bibi,
female, 37 years, Pakistan