AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRINCIPALS in charge of institutions whose students benefit from Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL)’s agroindustry scholarship programme, popularly known as Kilimo-Viwanda scholarship programme, have hailed the beer-maker for implementing the initiative that financially supports students from underprivileged backgrounds to acquire quality education in agriculture-related disciplines.
Kaole Wazazi College of Agriculture Principal Sinani Simba said the support was not only a much-sought-after short-in-the-arm for qualified students who could not afford college fees, but it also demonstrated SBL’s commitment to the development of the agricultural sector in the country.
“Training of agricultural experts is one of the priorities spelt out in the Agriculture Sector Development Programme Phase II, as a prerequisite to increasing productivity and income generation for local farmers. We are very grateful to SBL because Kilimo-Viwanda scholarship programme is among the initiatives that are supporting our college to foster the growth of the agricultural sector in our country,” said Simba.
Kilimo-Viwanda Scholarship Programme’s overall aim is to beef up the existing pool of experts in the agricultural sector to support farmers to increase their productivity.
So far, 70 students from four colleges of agriculture, including Kaole Wazazi College of Agriculture in Bagamoyo, Kilacha Agriculture and Livestock Training Centre in Moshi, Mt Maria Goretti College of Agriculture in Iringa and Igabiro Training Institute of Agriculture in Bukoba, Kagera Region, have benefitted from the scholarship that caters for tuition fees for the entire academic period at the colleges. For his part, Principal of Kilacha Agricultural and Livestock Training Centre Benito Mwenda said SBL’s gesture spoke to its keenness in enhancing training of experts in agriculture, adding that by having an adequate pool of trained experts would be easy to transform the country’s agricultural sector from its current subsistence production orientation into market and industrial-orientated production system.
Head of St Maria Goretti College of Agriculture Isaya Kidava said agricultural extension officers were important in agriculture and what SBL had done was commendable.
The adoption of good agricultural practices (GAP) and intensive provision of extension services to farmers have consistently demonstrated high rates of return in various countries.
Speaking of the programme, SBL Managing Director Mark Ocitti said the brewer’s main aim, among other things, was to support the government in building the capacity of local farmers through training of experts in various agricultural fields of study.
He said SBL had committed 120m/- which would be shared every year among needy students from farming communities who were studying in local colleges offering agriculture-related disciplines.
“In implementing this programme, we are partnering with four local colleges offering courses in agriculture. We believe this programme will strengthen the existing pool of agricultural experts in the country which is necessary in helping farmers to increase productivity and their incomes,” Ocitti added.
