By Prossy Nandudu
According to Best Glad Kaitesi, a student at Gayaza High School, most students have been considering agriculture a dirty job. More attention is given to jobs like lawyers, doctors. “Through the school farm camp at our school, we have learnt that agriculture is the future because it has many job opportunities,” Kaitesi said.
She added that through the farm camps, students have learnt how to take care of animals, milk cows, innovate like creating fertilizers and bio gas from cattle waste and now have a different understanding of agriculture.
She added that one can get employed in agriculture through the engineering section to make farm tools, can be a sales person, specialize in treating animals and that it prepares a student for a time when there will be no formal employment.
“I have learnt a lot and now I have my goat project at home, I have designed a mini bio digester at home so I encourage students to learn agriculture whenever there are these training opportunities like in agriculture expos and student agriculture farm camps to start up projects for themselves,” she added.
Mina Sentongo, a form four student, added that through the school farm camps and agriculture shows like harvest money, she has been exposed to the outside world through the media, like the Newvison. Sentongo, who started off as an agriculture pupil at MST Junior School i joined Gayaza High school and has been attending farm camps, not just as a student but as a trainer.
At her new school, she was taken to the Margot production project, she feared maggots, and didn’t want to touch them, but she learnt from her classmates before she was moved to the tomato production project.
“During one of the harvest money expos like this one she was featured in the New vision Newspaper as a trainer that was a big boost to her career. “I found myself in the newspaper, I was happy, I thought newspapers were for celebrities, big and important people but through that exposure, I now train students in agriculture,” she added.
The above are some of the testimonies that students shared with others during the Harvest Money Expo session, focusing on job opportunities in the agriculture space for the students.
The expo that was running under the theme farming as a business, Post-harvest handling and innovations, not only attracted farmers but also students from various schools.
Schools that were present for the expo include MST Junior School that specializes in agriculture classes, Kibuli SS, Namilyango College School, Gayaza High School, and Iganga SS among others.
