Strengthening skills of TVET staff and students for optimizing water usage & climate smart agriculture in South Africa

The project combines the promotion of agriculture growth and sustainable & equitable water use. It will concentrate on the educating young people in the field of optimizing water usage & climate smart agriculture. The consortium bases its focus on improving the skills and employability of TVET graduates, the TVET programs must be based on the needs in the agriculture and water labour market. The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) and the Skills Education Training Authorities (SETA) are crucial stakeholders in this process. They support it and see the project as a unique opportunity to develop a new national occupational qualification, with different modules and curricula, that speaks to both agriculture and water students. Six TVET colleges will be capacitated to introduce this qualification – located in different provinces, and in both urban and rural areas.  The focus is on five key themes: developing and implementing the new occupational standard, matching with industry skills-needs, introducing the dual system and apprenticeship approach, providing an inclusive gender, youth & marginalized groups focus and practice, and establish practical PPP support structures. This approach will be institutionalized in and supported by a Dutch-South African Triple helix platform, with multiple stakeholders from the education, private, and public sectors.

Types of activities carried out:

• Consulting
• Training
• Research

The project runs from June 2019 until December 2021