adminThe Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development’s director in the Agricultural Education and Farmer Training department, Mr Moffat Nyamangara, on Tuesday said the ministry came up with a policy to address the gender imbalance in the sector.
“There were no female extension officers before independence. We are encouraging more women to train at agricultural colleges. Nowadays we have several women working in the agricultural industry under different disciplines,” he said.
Mr Nyamangara said there were almost 4 000 students in the eight agricultural colleges with women being equally represented.
“We are aiming at having more women in the agriculture sector. We have realised that there is no difference in the performance of men and women and therefore we would like to accord them equal opportunities,” he said.
“Initially the ratio of enrolment depended on accommodation availability, but now we are promoting women to venture into the agriculture industry,” he said.
He said there was a time when the ministry introduced a national certificate programme in agriculture where there were more women than men,” he said.
Mr Nyamangara said there were no special entry requirements for women although there were different schedules used for recruitment to ensure equal opportunities.
Online Reporter