Dr Baffour Awuah, an agricultural scientist, has appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to focus on ensuring that graduates from agricultural technical institutions are trained to work with minimum supervision.

He said that could be achieved through the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system where the teachers and facilitators would acquire the needed field experience to enhance their ability to train students.

Dr Awuah said this during a day’s stakeholders’ workshop held in Accra by the Agricultural Technical Vocational and Training (ATVET) in collaboration with New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and with support from the German Government.

The ATVET programme is to incorporate agricultural technical vocational training components into the national education system.

Dr Awuah said: “There is the need to create opportunities for further in-service training to equip training facilitators and teachers.”

The workshop brought together experienced producers from the pineapple and citrus industries, teachers from the public agricultural training institutes, to promote the concept of agricultural vocational and technical education in Ghana.

Mr Benjamin Kofi Gyasi, Director of Human Resource of MOFA, said “the private sector employs only a fraction while the majority remain unemployed or find jobs in other areas besides agriculture”.

He said, “It is sad that employers are unable to employ agriculturists that are trained in our institutions for productive work.”

Mr Gyasi said the challenge would be better addressed through collaborative efforts from the Ministry, industry players and projects like ATVET.

“It is important to train highly qualified agriculturists with the requisite vocational and technical skills to deliver productively and also develop lucrative job opportunities.”