The Israeli government and Don Bosco Eastern Africa have inaugurated the Don Bosco Agricultural Innovation and Technology Center in Embu County (AITeC-EMBU). The center aims to provide practical and innovative training for young farmers, using modern technologies and methods to enhance food security and sustainability.
Through Israeli experts, knowledge and technology will be transferred locally through the center, training budding farmers and extension workers on Israeli innovations from drip irrigation to greenhouses, to hybrid seeds and mechanization helping to uplift the country’s challenge of food and nutritional security.
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According to Israeli Ambassador to Kenya Michael Lotem, the center’s launch is a nod to Israel’s intent on leveraging its agrotechnology to improve the lives of communities across Africa.
“We hope to inspire local youth to view agriculture as a profitable and rewarding space to venture into. Equipped with adequate information and technologies to curtail risks there are many hi-tech opportunities in the agricultural sector,” he stated.
AITeC-EMBU will train over 300 young farmers yearly within and outside Embu County. It will offer a certified agriculture curriculum that will equip learners with Israeli-borrowed innovative agricultural techniques. This will give them cutting-edge agricultural know-how and skills that make them self-sufficient members of society.
The farm features:
- Two-acre drip and sprinkler open-field production
- 480m2 Polyethylene-covered High tunnel vegetable nursery
- 480m2 Polyethylene flat-type Net house for vegetable production
- 4 Polyethylene-covered low tunnel greenhouse 144 m2 each
- Meteorological station
- Establishment of initial infrastructure for 13-hectare open field production
It will offer an eight-month technical training program, a six-month internship program, and a host Syngenta Foundations’ agripreneur program.
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It also aims to serve as an agriculture research and innovation hub that will benefit Kenya and other countries on the continent.