Gary Collar AGCO Corporation senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific and Africa (right) with Strathmore Dean of School of Business  Dr George Njenga (Left) and the P.S Post- training and Skills Development P.S Zeinab Hussein when Strathmore Business School launched an agribusiness training programme for African youth March 6, 2018. [GEORGE ORIDO]

Fresh graduates will benefit from paid internship by Government upon graduation, a State official has announced.

Post-training and Skills Development Principal Secretary Zeinab Hussein said said the Government was keen on instilling work skills to graduates.

The PS was speaking as a Chief Guest when Strathmore Business School together with AGCO Corporation launched an agribusiness training programme.

The new programme between the two institutions has recruited 20 students who will train in agriculture value chain management and investment.

“We need to make agriculture look cool and sexy to youth,” she said. Ms Hussein revealed one of the reasons Galana Kulalu irrigation project did not meet the expected impact was lack of skilled personnel such as farm managers, production managers and food chain value managers.

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“Galana had many positive outcomes but the impact was not felt because we somehow left behind the human resource aspect of the project,” she said.

AGCO Corporation Senior Vice President for Asia-Pacific and Africa Gary Collar said the new AGCO Agribusiness Qualification (AAQ) is focused on developing skills, leadership and expertise to drive African agriculture. AGCO are the makers of Massey Ferguson brand of tractors.

“To leverage the huge potential of agriculture and develop the agro-industry, it needs people with the right skills and knowledge to make it happen,” he said.

The Dean, Strathmore Business School Dr George Njenga decried legal regime that promotes middlemen but disenfranchises farmers. “Take for instance the policy and law governing macadamia. It is demanded that no raw macadamia may be exported yet the farmer has no means to process it. So the middlemen come and buy it for a song and later make super-normal profits out of it,” Njenga said.

Nigerian expert Aliyu Abduhameed noted that it is imperative to make agriculture high yielding enterprise so that it will attract young people across.