Agricultural education in Kenya and Tanzania (1968-1998)

The governments of Kenya and Tanzania consider agriculture to be the key to social andeconomic prosperity. It is a top priority in all national development plans in the twocountries. The importance of agricultural development is underlined by its potentialcontribution to national food security, foreign exchange earnings, gross domestic productand employment, in both formal and informal sectors. In both countries, agriculturewill remain the key to industrialization by virtue of being the main source of rawmaterials for agribusiness and agri-industry.Today, Kenya and Tanzania are confronted with rapidly growing populations, swiftlyincreasing rural-to-urban migration and rising competition for both regional andinternational trade. To meet these challenges, the two countries must revolutionizeagriculture and increase productivity. The key to improved agriculture is competentand well-resourced farmers. Competence arises from appropriate training, access toinformation and technology, enabling policies and institutional arrangements, andadequate incentives for agricultural production. However, casual observation revealsthat the formal avenues for dissemination of farming techniques either have brokendown or are inadequate in the wake of emerging challenges in the socio-economicarena.This report outlines the evolution of agricultural education in the two countries. It hasbeen derived from a survey of agricultural education and training in Kenya andTanzania for the period from 1968 to 1998. The survey was undertaken by the RegionalUnit for Land Management (RELMA), in collaboration with the African Network forAgroforestry Education (ANAFE), both supported by the Swedish International DevelopmentCooperation Agency (Sida), the latter through the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry(ICRAF). The initial purpose was to develop a collaborative RELMAñANAFE strategyto support training for farmers in adopting agricultural innovations and technologies.The objective of the survey was to determine the effectiveness of training in agricultureand the use made of it.

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