Bukalasa Agricultural College is using a practical four-acre model farm system to equip students with hands-on agricultural and business skills, a training approach that college leaders and students say is helping change negative perceptions about agriculture while preparing young people for self-employment.
The initiative, which forms the core of the institution’s training programme, allows students to manage commercial farming enterprises, develop business plans, prepare budgets and gain experience in crop and livestock production.
According to the college’s Principal, Giilvan Lule Kisolo, the model is designed to ensure graduates leave with practical skills that can enable them to establish profitable agricultural enterprises rather than depend solely on formal employment.
“Our main approach is the four-acre model farm,” Kisolo said. “We want students to understand the concept and see how four acres can support a family economically. Students are allocated land, plan enterprises, prepare budgets, manage livestock and grow both annual and perennial crops.”
Under the programme, groups of students take responsibility for managing agricultural enterprises from production to marketing, giving them first-hand experience in the realities of commercial farming.
Kisolo said the college’s role is not necessarily to invent new technologies but to apply research findings and demonstrate how farmers can use them to improve productivity and profitability.
“We take technologies that have been developed through research and show students how they can be applied practically,” he said. “Whether it is value addition, crop management or livestock production, students are able to see that these practices can work in real-life farming situations.”
The approach appears to be changing attitudes among students who once viewed agriculture as a last-resort career option.
Patience Namude, a National Diploma student in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, said many young people still associate agriculture with manual labour rather than entrepreneurship and business.
“Many students think agriculture is about holding a hoe and chasing animals,” Namude said. “They do not realise that agriculture offers many career opportunities and can generate good income.”
She believes greater government investment in agricultural institutions could encourage more students to pursue agriculture-related courses.
According to Namude, some learners are discouraged by tuition costs and uncertainty about employment opportunities after graduation. She argued that scholarships, sponsorships and stronger links between agricultural institutions and employers would increase enrolment.
“If students are assured of support after graduation, whether through employment opportunities or assistance to start enterprises, more of them will take up these courses,” she said.
Namude also called for successful farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs to share their experiences with students and communities in order to demonstrate the economic benefits of agriculture.
Another student, Shifrah Nantale, said her decision to pursue General Agriculture was influenced by concerns about food security and a desire to acquire practical farming skills.
Nantale explained that while agriculture was taught in secondary school, the training at Bukalasa has provided a deeper understanding of crop production, vegetable farming and agricultural marketing.
“They have taught us how to prepare nursery beds, plant seeds, manage crops and market agricultural products,” she said.
The skills, she added, have given her confidence to establish a farming enterprise after graduation.
“When I return home, I can use a piece of land to grow vegetables and earn an income. The training has shown me that agriculture can be a business,” Nantale said.
She also encouraged farmers to adopt environmentally friendly farming practices and reduce dependence on synthetic agricultural inputs where possible.
According to Nantale, sustainable farming methods can help improve soil fertility and contribute to safer food production.
Despite the successes recorded under the four-acre model, Kisolo said the college faces operational challenges that affect training and production activities.
Among the biggest obstacles are delays in procuring agricultural inputs and rising operational costs, particularly fuel expenses.
He explained that irrigation systems at the institution rely heavily on generators, making fuel a major cost centre.
“We have irrigation infrastructure, but we cannot run it continuously because generators consume a lot of fuel,” Kisolo said. “That increases the cost of production and affects some of our operations.”
The principal also noted that procurement procedures can delay the acquisition of essential farm inputs, affecting the timely implementation of agricultural activities.
Even with these challenges, college leaders maintain that practical agricultural training remains one of the most effective ways to prepare young people for opportunities in Uganda’s agriculture sector.