dairy capacity building: visions on policies and implementation

Dairy capacity building: Visions on policies and implementation.African dairy conference and exhibition, 23-25 September 2015

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Dairy capacity building East Africa

“When I started agricultural training in 1949, we skipped the chapter on machine milking, that was only for America, not for us. So was the thinking by then”.

Pieter Willem Blokland (84), retired dairy farmer in “Veeteelt”, December 2014.


Inadequate livestock farmers’ knowledge and skills is one of the limiting factors to the development of the industry. Knowledge and skills are important for quick adoption of appropriate technology, which has been developed and disseminated to livestock farmers.

Tanzania Dairy Development Board, 2014.


EADEC/IADG on dairy development in East Africa (April 2014): -improved donor coordination-thematic lead agencies

-”competency of dairy farmers, staff and entrepreneurs along the value chain.


Follow up to April conference:

-consultations with various stakeholders-literature, project documents-workshops in Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya (November 2014)-included in project implementation in Ethiopia

– Analysis of current dairy support activities in the region

– Analysis of good practices in other sectors– Inventory of present dairy and training (formal,

informal) and education activities and its applicability for the future

– Formulate follow up activities to Dutch government.


Current state of affairs countries East Africa:●Rwanda: no formal dairy education, in

preparation.●Tanzania: changes ongoing, scattered,

inadequate coordination●Kenya: devolution, more demand-driven, PDCTs●Ethiopia: fully government oriented.

Ethiopia:

Dairy capacity building East AfricaIn general:

-education too much theory based, not enough practical exposure.-curricula not consistent with:

- changes in dairy production systems, - changes in demand profiles- changing rural-urban labour markets-changes from subsistence farming to commercial dairy enterprises

-graduates no longer automatically government employees.


Sector development needs training and education at all levels:

-practical, hands-on courses-Vocational level (Certificate, Diploma)-Higher agricultural training (BSc)-University level

Dairy capacity building East AfricaChallenges to educational system:

-learning methods and materials outdated-no coordination within the system-inadequate number of trained teachers

and extension officers-weak research-training/education

linkages-dairy processing technology inadequately covered.

Dairy capacity building East AfricaConcluding: (1) Dairy education outdated and insufficient(2) Resulting in insufficient trained people at all levels(3) For building up a sector, a sound knowledge base is necessary, based in a comprehensive agricultural education system: no quick fixes(4) Without a good theoretical and practical knowledge base, limited success rates for innovations.

Knowledge and skills are important for quick adoption of appropriate technology


Consequences for regional training and education:-specific approach of agricultural educational system per country-make choices for donor coordinated interventions per countryWithout education, no innovation


Without education, no innovation.Ways forward to strengthen dairy capacity building:

1. Developing TVET and Competence Based Education and Training at the cross-roads between formal education and workplace learning

2. Strengthening peer-to-peer learning in (experimental) workplaces and exemplary practices

Dairy capacity building East AfricaWays forward to strengthen dairy capacity building

(3) Utilizing emerging ICT-based education and learning that bypasses the creation of formal education and training facilities and structures but taking advantage of farmer’s increased access to cell-phones and other ICTs.

Identify existing education institutes willing to redesign their curriculum using iterative multi-stakeholder process


(4) Focus less on numbers (of “farmers reached”) more on quality of training and long term production change perspectives.(5) Build stronger linkages between private sector and education in the donor countries ánd East African countries.(6) Stimulate education institutes to approach internationalisation from a sector development perspective which necessitates a joint approach from practical hands-on training up to university level


(7) Strengthen didactical skills and integration in education system of PDTCs(8) Challenge Dutch agriculture education to participate more intensively also as part their own internationalisation objectives and programmes, e.g. BTEC. (9) Distinguish between subsistence and market oriented dairy farming. Focus on potential dairy areas. (10) Experiment further with private extension and training.

Follow-up.

●IADG follow up meeting 18-20 November in Berlin

●Netherlands: conference on international collaboration education-private sector, 19th November.

Questions?

dairy capacity building: visions on policies and implementation

Economy & Finance