____________

Fifty students from Makerere and Busitema universities have been flagged off to Israel to do a modern agricultural apprenticeship.

The Agro studies apprenticeship aims at exposing Ugandan universities to modern agricultural technologies.

While flagging off the students, Ishta Muganga, the honorary consul of Israel to Uganda, told the students not to forget what has taken them to Israel.

“The government of Israel is committed to the programme. Over 2,000 Ugandan students have been going every year. You are the chosen one so do the right thing when you are in Israel. If you do what is right, the results will come and if you do the wrong things, the results will be seen tomorrow,” Muganga said.

She encouraged students to work together if they want to achieve goals.

“In Israel, farmers have realized that when they work together they work better. You will not make good significant if you come back and work alone. Work as a group that is when the Ministry of Agriculture will also come in to help you. Opportunity comes to those who are organised,” she noted.

She reminded students that work ethics is also needed in Agriculture. She told them that at her farm she is employing Kenyans because Ugandans do not want to work. Kenyans do not miss work because they have to attend a burial or a wedding.

“We are taking you to Israel because you are the future. Be organised, honest and relevant. Let your mind open up while in Israel so that when you come back to Uganda you can be a solution to some of the challenges we are facing. Always seek knowledge, ask yourselves why they milk cows at a certain time and plant every Friday. Ask questions,” Muganga noted.

Addressing students, Dr Mildred Ochwo- Ssemakula, the head of the Department of Agricultural Production at Makerere University, said that the government of Uganda has high hopes for the students who are going to Israel so they should maximize their stay there.

“We believe we have got the right students, please be disciplined do not escape because if you escape the programme will be closed. Be good ambassadors so that the Israeli government supports more students. Come back to Uganda and transfer the knowledge. You are not going as individuals you are going to represent Uganda,” Ssemakula said.

In his speech, Richard Anguzu, a commissioner agricultural planning at the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, called upon students to be a point of attraction when they come back to Uganda.

“Be a job creator, not a seeker when you come back. Go learn and come back to transform your Country. Uganda needs qualified people in the Agriculture sector,” Anguzu said.

Anguzu promised students that the Agriculture ministry is going to work with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Makerere University to create an enabling environment for students who have gone through the programme.

The students will be in Israel for one year. During training, the farmers will pay them  for their work. The money is used to facilitate their needs and to be saved so that they start model farms when they come back.