HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT

AgriSETA. Three schools took part in the webinar, namely Bernedino Heights, Murraysburg High School and Bonteheuwel High School. The students were a bit camera-shy, but the programme manager was able to get a beautiful shot of the scholars of Bonteheuwel with a shout-out to all participating schools.

The executive manager in skills planning from AgriSETA, Mr Frikkie Fouche, reiterated in his opening message that agriculture is not just for old people, but it has various opportunities for young and old. Mr Fouche also mentioned the various career opportunities within the agricultural science and technology environment.

Darryl Jacobs, the deputy director-general of the Agricultural Development and Support Services of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, welcomed the students and guests. Mr Jacobs alerted the guests that one of the very good reasons to study agriculture is the fact that agriculture is the only sector that has shown positive growth during COVID-19, when every other sector in the economy has shown a decrease.

Another achievement of the WCDoA was the successful training of fourteen drone pilots, which enables the participants to be an integral part of the investment in innovation. Furthermore, according to Mr Jacobs, agriculture accounts for 17% of employment in the Western Cape. In support of this, he introduced the booklet on fifty career opportunities within agriculture.

As part of the visual information of the webinar, Minister Ivan Meyer also gave a message to the guests and confirmed the fact that agriculture and its value chains contributes 11% to the gross domestic product of the Western Cape Province, which translates to R64 billion farming income in the province. He furthermore said that more than 50% of all South Africa’s agricultural exports move through the Western Cape.

The students and guests of the webinar left with the message that agriculture is a sector of hope, filled with many career opportunities for young and old.