Lowveld College of Agriculture Produces Another Group of Graduates

Lowveld College of Agriculture Produces
Another Group of Graduates

The Lowveld College of Agriculture in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Administration (Dardla) held its 21st graduation ceremony on Friday 22 March 2013. Lecturers, proud family members and stakeholders, gathered at the College to witness and celebrate the success of the 78 graduates after they successfully completed their Diplomas.

The graduation day served as a motivation to other aspirant agriculturalists that hard work does pay off.

Key speakers at the ceremony included DARDLA MEC, Mrs V. Siwela and Dr Steve Worth from the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Environmental Sciences Faculty, who had worked with the College for a number of years. DARDLA's Chief Director for Research and Structural Training Services, Mr Stemmer Ndala was the programme director at the graduation.

During her keynote address at the graduation ceremony, MEC Siwela said "This event comes at a time when there is a huge need for relevant people to take the agriculture sector to another level. Our efforts as a department are focused on encouraging and instilling agriculture to young minds at school level.

The MEC also spoke about plans to turn Land Reform farms around, saying the department decided to source the services of unemployed agriculture graduates from the province, who would be deployed to the identified ailing farm that needs intervention. "These young people are expected prove how good they understand farming and farm management. They will need to come up with strategies and innovation to bring about change and improvement on these farms", said MEC Siwela.

In his motivational speech, University of KwaZulu-Natal's Dr Steve Worth encouraged the graduates to aim higher now that they have their Diplomas. "You should just keep going until you reach PhD level. Now that you have the relevant skill, you should consider becoming independent farmers, to help in the department's effort to ensure food security".

He also encouraged them to consider venturing into farming because they already have the relevant skill that can see them becoming independent farmers. Dr. Worth had worked closely with the College Management to ensure the advancement and upgrade of the campus in all spheres.