Luanda - The Angolan Government will begin, from September, the rehabilitation of 12 Agricultural Technical Institutes (ITA) in different provinces of the country, prioritizing those of the Southern Network, within the framework of the Support Project for Agricultural and Rural Training – PAFAR.
The information was advanced on Tuesday in Luanda by the Minister of Education, Luisa Grilo, on the sidelines of the 3rd Meeting of COPIL, stressing that they will also be equipped, with a view to improving the conditions of agricultural education in the country.
The Minister made it known that the objective of the project is to restructure all agricultural education so that technicians and trained in this area can be able to produce in the field and work on farms, for a well-developed agriculture in the country.
'From the diagnosis carried out in the twelve (12) institutions covered, it was determined that ten urgently need rehabilitation and expansion works, the Institutes: those of Cuanza-Sul (Waku Cungo), Cuanza-Norte (N'dalatando) and Malanje (in Quéssua)', she said.
To this group, the head of the Education sector included the counterparts of the provinces of Uíge (located in Negage), Huambo (Huambo), Bié (Andulo), Benguela (Joaquim Capango), Namibe (Capangombe), Cuando-Cubango (Menongue) and Huila (Tchivinguiro).
'The Government of Angola considers the PAFAR project an initiative of incalculable value for the economic and social growth of the country, because it allows the expansion of the training offer and employability opportunities for young people,' she stressed.
The focus on agriculture, she continued, is one of the priorities of the Angolan Government in the current mandate, and it is necessary and opportune that education takes the lead and takes the first step, which is to prepare and provide highly qualified staff for various sectors.
According to Luísa Grilo, the main component of the PAFAR project is the rehabilitation of the infrastructures of the agrarian institutes, which have already been in use for a few years, without the maintenance process corresponding to the ideal.
'We have already started with the preliminary studies for each of the ITA, to then start with the planned works, in a first phase, in the institutes of the South network, in September', the Minister of Education highlighted.
She explained that the project also aims to raise awareness and encourage young women to attend courses related to agriculture, taking into account the financial incentive reserved for all girls interested in this science.
During her speech at the above-mentioned meeting of the Steering Committee (COPIL), he predicted that they could later contribute to the reduction of food insecurity and poverty in rural areas; for the development of agricultural production and value chains.
She added that he will also help in the adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices, in addition to supporting the empowerment of rural women and developing employment opportunities for local youth. The PAFAR/DOJ
