On the 17^th of November in 2014, the grant agreement regarding the project “Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Education Infrastructure of Agriculture Colleges in Zambia” was signed.

The project is a nation-wide project, covering all 10 Governmental Agriculture Colleges, located in the six provinces of Zambia, Southern, Lusaka, Central, Copperbelt, Muchinga and Eastern Province. These Agriculture Colleges are meant to service all the 10 provinces and 105 districts in Zambia. The rationale to further increase support to the Agriculture Colleges should be seen against the backdrop of (rural) poverty and national economic challenges, which include the lack of economic diversity, dependence on copper export and the volatility of world commodity prices, and the ongoing food security challenges in the nation.

These issues will be addressed by the Zambia extension service (who will benefit from the training offered by the Agriculture Colleges). The training will also benefit youth that will receive appropriate skills at the Agriculture Colleges to enhance pro-poor growth, diversity, private sector development and creation of sustainable livelihoods within the agriculture sector. In addition, large agro-companies will benefit from higher productivity through better skilled personnel. Key to rural development, job creation and technological advancement is human development and private sector development. This is hampered in the rural areas and agriculture sector through the low output (in quantity and quality) of the Agriculture Colleges, which provide education and training to rural youth, farmers and extension officers.