Industry players in the agriculture value chain met to analyse gaps recognised in graduates from agriculture tertiary institutions when they enter the job market.  The forum was held at Erata hotel by Knox Consulting for sector experts to brainstorm on developing practical and hands-on supplementary content for agricultural colleges and institutions to equip graduates for the job market.
 
The forum formed part of activities being rolled out by Knox Consulting with support from the SofTtribe under its “Bridging the Devices and Connectivity Gaps for Students in Agriculture in Ghana’’ project with the Mastercard Foundation. Specifically designed for business owners/practitioners in the agriculture space, the objective was for participants to amongst others: Share experiences on the practical know-how needed by graduates to succeed in the industry and brainstorm on the relevant skills-set required to augment tertiary institution training for the job market.
 
Speaking at the forum, the Managing Partner of Knox Consulting, Sheila Assibey-Yeboah, indicated that Ideas collated from the deliberations would offer project implementers with ample tools to aid in offering supplementary content for students in tertiary institutions as well as provide in-depth understanding into the pertinent human resource bottlenecks affecting the industry. “We believe this is important in helping the project develop a comprehensive approach to bridging the current knowledge gap when fresh graduates enter the job market in the agriculture space” she said.
 
Sheila Assibey-Yeboah also observed that only a hand-full of agriculture graduates end up actively working in same sector. The trend is worrying and there is the need to address this challenge, she added.
 
The forum was attended by sector players from the diverse agriculture value chains including livestock, poultry, tree crops, fruits, vegetables, agri-inputs and service providers.
 
About Knox Consulting
It is a consultancy network organisation that focuses on project or company support, advisory services, capacity strengthening, advocacy and improved systems in the Agriculture, Agribusiness, Economic and Finance sectors in Ghana.