Unveiling the next generation of agricultural leaders: School Farm Competition paves the way

Kosmos Innovation Centre (KIC) is set to recognize the exceptional talents of many Junior and Senior High School students at the highly anticipated 2024 School Farm Competition Awards Ceremony.

Scheduled to take place on November 8, 2024, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the event will celebrate the remarkable achievements of students who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to innovation and sustainable agricultural practices, working on their school farm. The event is being organised in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service with support from the STEM Directorate.

Application for the competition, which was opened in March this year, paved the way for a trainer of trainer’s workshops for schools participating in the competition. As part of the workshop, teachers from participating schools were taken through the rubrics of horticulture, including land preparation, nursing of seeds, transplanting, pest control, chemical applications, appropriate usage of PPEs, and harvesting. Equipped with the knowledge from the workshops, participating schools went ahead to prepare their lands and nurse their seeds.

The School Farm Competition, which was initiated by Blue Skies Foundation, is an agricultural school challenge project that aims to increase the desire of young people in both Junior and Senior High Schools through learning experiences, by providing the schools with inputs to cultivate their own crops on designated school farms and consider agriculture as an income generating venture in their life journey whiles improving Ghana’s food security. Since 2022 KIC in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation came on board to support the program’s expansion. In 2024, Blue Skies Foundation gave KIC full support to take on the governance and implementation of the program.

Speaking ahead of the awards ceremony, Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, Executive Director for KIC, said: “We are immensely proud of the dedication and creativity shown by these young students in the School Farm Competition. The awards ceremony will not just be a celebration of their achievements but a testament to the potential of our youth to identify opportunities within agriculture, creating a change in perception about agriculture.”

He added that “By engaging students in school farm projects and providing them with the necessary resources and mentorship, we are cultivating a new generation of youth who will drive the future of sustainable agriculture in Ghana.”

During the event, key industry leaders and agripreneurs will share their journeys with the students to serve as inspiration and help them identify endless possibilities within the sector.

Winners from the competition are awarded ICT learning materials to support their school ICT centers.

With over 500 junior and senior high schools participating in the competition, the awards ceremony promises to be an inspiring celebration of youth in agriculture while showcasing their potential.