Angolan students look to UK agriculture for farm management skills
The six students are being trained on the RAU’s graduate diploma in agriculture, with an end goal of heading back to Angola to run a 5,000-hectare commercial farm.
Lauren Dean
Angolan agricultural students have teamed up with the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in an attempt to absorb new ways to curb the country’s reliance on oil.
The six students are being trained on the RAU’s graduate diploma in agriculture, with an end goal of heading back to Angola to run a 5,000-hectare commercial farm.
Angolan telecoms company UNITEL has funded the students on the trip who each have a three-year commitment to the Province of Malange site, which will be home to maize, soybean and a research centre.
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About 100-hectares will be ring-fenced for a new farming community with families receiving parcels of land and additional training, as well as an opportunity to grow future cash crops such as macadamia and mango.
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Leandro Serena Luciano Kaizer, 31, from Kwanza-Sul province, Sumbe municipality, said: “I hope one day Angola will once again become one of the largest producers and exporters of coffee, bananas and other products and I hope to be part of this great step.”
Although reliant on subsistence farming, half of Angola’s food is imported.
Chief executive of UNITEL Tony Dolton said its partnership with the RAU helped ambitious young Angolans ‘develop the strategic problem solving skills and technological knowledge we need to grow a sustainable agri-tech industry’.
Professor Joanna Price, RAU vice-chancellor added: “Global food security is one of the biggest challenges of our age. Our vision is that this ground-breaking project with UNITEL will have a lasting impact on the development of agriculture in Angola.”
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