RESCAP Weekly Progress in August 2011
RESCAP stands for “Rural Extension Service Capacity Advancement Project through PaViDIA Approach”
http://www.pavidia.org.zm/ E-Mail: , Tel: (260) 211252593 (No. 080) 16/August/2011
Date / Events in This Week / News around11 /
15
MON / Extension Officers In-Service Training for Northern Province
At Kasama Firm Institute / “ In-Service Training for Extension Officers in Northern Province”
The 1st In-Service Training for Extension Officers in Northern Province is being conducted at Kasama Farm Institute from 15th August to 19th August 2011. This is the second In-Service Training for extension officers organized by Department of Agriculture (RESCAP) after the first one in Kafue District in late June 2011.The course is designed to provide teams of officers from District with opportunities to understand how they can improve their services with the use of participatory extension approach (PEA) and Agricultural Extension Diary (ADEOs) and refresh their knowledge and skills on the selected important crops and appropriate technologies in Northern Province. A total of 25 Camp/Block Extension Officers, Subject Matter Specialists, and Senior Agricultural Officers from Chinsali, Kaputa, Kasama, Luwingu and Mporokoso Districts are attending the Programme. The programme also includes a lot of field sessions each day to understand what they learn practically. The core team of resource persons is from MACO Provincial Office and ZARI Misanfu Station. A Visiting Director of Extension from Yamagata Prefecture of Japan, Mr. Ohba also gave a talk on the roles of extension officer and office with reference to extension services in Japan.
12 / 16
TUE / Extension Officers In-Service Training for Northern Province
At Kasama Firm Institute
13 / 17
WED / ■ Extension Officers In-Service Training for Northern Province
At Kasama Firm Institute
■ Meeting with DACO and visit to micro projects in Luwingu District
(Messrs. Ohba, Ono and Miyoshi)
14 / 18
THU /
- Messrs. Ohba and Ono return to Lusaka
At Kasama Firm Institute
15 / 19
FRI /
- Courtesy call and reporting to Mr. Chalabesa (Deputy Director) by Mr. Ohba
- Courtesy call to H.E Japanese Ambassador Mr. Egawa by Mr. Ohba
- Meeting with Resident Representative of JICA (Mr. Nabeya) by Mr. Ohba
At Kasama Firm Institute
In-coming Events / This Week’s Picture
- Visit of Director of Extension Service of Yamagata Prefecture (Mr. Ohba)
(12th – 20th August 2011)
- The 2nd Joint Coordinating Committee meeting (TBC)
- Northern Province Extension Officers In-Service Training
(15 – 19 August 2011)
- OJT of a new JICA staff (2 August to 15th September) / “Ubulunga ” On our way to Kasama, Mr. Ohba, Director of Extension Service from Yamagata Prefecture of Japan noticed strange nests on the trees along the road. (Photo left).This is a nest/colony of larvae red aunts called “Ubulunga (in local language Bemba)”. Larvae, when the nest is harvested and broken into pieces, are released and can be fed to birds. Please be careful! These aunts can bit you and very painful!
“Report from Mr. Moses Mulenga (Senior Agricultural Officer from Chinsali District, Northern Province) attended the Upland Cereal Crops Management Course for Extension Officers in Japan”
Between 29th May and 19th July this year, I was privileged to participate in the Upland Cereal Crops Management for Extension Officers in Obihiro City, Japan. I was one of the two representatives from Zambia Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO), Chinsali District MACO Office in particular and the other participant, Mr. Musonda Kanyanta Lloyd, was from Mumbwa District. The training was tailored towards bridging the gap in upland cereal crops management skills and techniques among extension workers in developing countries.
Participants of the training were guided and exposed to a variety of technologies and skills available today in Japan and, accessible during the time of the training. Training scope exposed the participants to Japanese Agriculture and Direction of the Agricultural Policy, Systems and Services of Agricultural Cooperatives, Agricultural Mutual Aid System and Cultivation Techniques. Other technologies included Cultivation Management, Product Processing, Human Resource Development, Soil Analysis, Disease Control and Management, Crop Growth Survey and Agricultural Extension.
The lectures, practical sessions and discussions were very intellectually refreshing and socially nourishing. It was interesting to see practicality of large scale farming (commercial) and how rewarding it is. It was an opportunity to see Japanese work culture and attitude which explains Japanese development today and its sustenance.
A lot of lessons indeed were learnt during the two months stay at Obihiro International Center.
That agriculture is a business. There is need to appreciate that
· This business need to be sustained
· Appropriate technology needs to be innovated, adopted, developed and sustained
· Culture and attitude of honesty, diligence, efficiency are pivotal in national development
· Time management is key
As a way forward, it was a requirement that at the end of the training I develop an action plan with the view to implement techniques and skills learnt during the training. Given problems and opportunities in Chinsali District, I came up with a project that will be implemented for the next five years. The title of the project is “Facilitation and Enhancement of the Adoption of Appropriate Farmer Technologies” in selected camps, in Chinsali. The technologies in question being: Crop Rotation, Large Scale Farming and Land Management.
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Rural Extension Service Capacity Advancement Project
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