AGRITAX TRAINING

What is AGRITEX TRAINING?

In Zimbabwe, agricultural extension was introduced in 1927 by Emory D. Alvord, who started with nine agricultural demonstration workers. Later, the Department of Conservation and Extension (Conex) and the Department of Agricultural Development (Devag) were established. The former had the institutional mandate to provide advisory services to white large-scale commercial farmers, while the latter was meant to service native smallholder farming communities. At independence in 1980, the Department of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (AGRITEX) was formed as an amalgamation of Conex and Devag.

After independence AGRITEX upgraded the master farmer training scheme to include an Advanced Master Farmer Training Program. In spite of accusations that the scheme benefits only better-off farmers, excludes the bulk of communal farmers and has little contact with other target groups, thereby actually increasing existing income differentials among social groups, it remains at the core of AGRITEX’s work (Mutimba, 1997).

AGRITEX is program created to help remote farmers get training and resources to carry out small to medium farming. Sesame For Life is committed to making sure the program benefits all sesame farmers too.