12 Jul 2023

It is important to introduce young people to agriculture and natural resources at a young age as the future development of the sector and the overall economy is in their hands, says director of Youth in the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture, Mr Keabetswe Lesiela.

Speaking during the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN)-Botswana Agriculture Teachers Association (BATA) Schools Agriculture National Fair in Gaborone July 10, he said quality education in agriculture and natural resources pointed to three categories of skills in the 21^st century which were learning skills, literacy and life skills that were all essential for the young person.

“Through a fair such as this, school children will be exposed to these 21^st century skills, which will make them ready for the changing labour market in future and promote critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication among learners,” said Mr Lesiela.

He noted that the purpose of fair was to expose primary to secondary school learners to different methods, techniques and approaches used in the teaching and learning of agriculture.

He further said in 2021 BUAN and BATA signed a memorandum of understanding to enable them to jointly develop pupils’ knowledge. 

The fair, he said, was an actualisation of the objectives of the MoU in training future agricultural practitioners and entrepreneurs.

For his part, BATA president, Mr Bolatlheng Mokotedi said through the fair learners would be exposed to opportunities in taking their projects beyond the school desks to the marketplace.

“We have more than 50 junior secondary schools taking part in this fair who will be given an opportunity to tour BUAN campus to appreciate different machinery, animals and agriculture environment at large for the benefit of their studies,” he said

Mr Mokotedi said the partnership needed to be nurtured and developed further to build pupils into responsible citizens who would lead the country into a knowledge-based economy.

Held under the theme: Stakeholder Partnership Quality Education for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Botswana, the  fair started Monday and will conclude on tomorrow. Ends