A Classroom In Your Pocket

With South Africa’s ageing farming population, a new generation of farmers is needed to secure the future of the industry. But with the high cost of education, and limited space in tertiary facilities, the youth and farm workers are discouraged from embarking on this path. Lindi Botha spoke to Agricolleges International founder Howard Blight about accessible education at a fraction of the cost.

- Lindi Botha

Howard Blight, the founder and chairperson of Agricolleges International, is convinced that agricultural training will enable the youth to make a living in the countryside rather than migrating to the cities with false hope.

“As the primary economic activity in rural areas, agriculture has a significant role to play in reshaping the country. But a lack of quality graduates at diploma level is placing the agricultural industry in a crisis that will ultimately threaten food security and stability in Africa,” he says.

Blight, who runs a nursery for macadamias, avocados and dragon fruit, and established a primary school on his farm some years ago, was one of the founding members of Stanford Lake College in Magoebaskloof, Limpopo.

He adds that there are not enough tertiary places for school-leavers, and new research and technology are challenging old curricula.

“Traditional training models are not designed to operate at scale, and there are insufficient internship opportunities. Fees in the functioning agricultural colleges are escalating, while the number of student enrolments is falling. There’s a lack of facilities for practical exercises and limited internship opportunities. Also, strikes by staff and student protests hamper learning.”

Realising the need for tertiary education in agriculture, he investigated the possibility of starting an agricultural college.

“I realised that the current agri-education model needed to change because the classroom based learning model isn’t economically scalable and does not evolve with the industry.”

The solution, Blight realised, was cloud-based learning.

“Without needing a brick-and mortar university, our budget suddenly dropped by hundreds of millions of rands,” he says.