The Nakuru Agricultural Training Centre (ATC) has received its credentials certifying it as an Agricultural Training and Vocational Education and Training (A-TVET).
The certification was acquired through a joint partnership between the County Government of Nakuru and Micro Enterprises Support Programme (MESPT) under the AgriFi program.
ATC is expected to build the capacity of farmers on food safety as well as bridge the gap in lack of coordination and consistency in skills and knowledge dissemination.
The Center will be a One-Stop-Shop, offering courses in poultry production, dairy farm management, and horticulture as well as imparting skill-based training.
Demo sites that have been established at the Centre, include a modern dairy unit, fodder bulking sites, horticultural demo plots in addition to an Aquaponics unit.
Danish Embassy Project Officer, Mr. Charles Wasike, said Nakuru is among the counties leading in the successful implementation of the AgriFi program and challenged the Centre to identify more innovative and affordable models to help smallholder farmers replicate them in their farms, using locally available materials.
Agriculture CECM, Dr Immaculate Maina, said that the technologies set up at the Centre will be used to train urban and peri-urban farmers, in a bid to boost production, adding that many sustainable cities produce up to 30 percent of their own food.
MESPT CEO, Ms Rebecca Amukhoye, in acknowledging the upgraded skill-based training offered to farmers, noted that farmers can now replicate the acquired technology on their farms with a view to improving productivity and safe foods.
ESPT is mandated to support sustainable economic growth and development of Small Holder Farmers, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), through a value chain approach and offers sustainable credit to financial institutions for improved business competitiveness and job creation.
The Trust’s focus is to facilitate support and provision of integrated financial and business development services for small holder farmers and MSMEs in Kenya.
Present were the AgriFi Program Manager, Mr Godfrey Nyangori, and ATC Principal, Ms Shelmith Mucoki among other officials.
By Jane Ngugi
