Curriculum reform in agricultural vocational education and training in Zimbabwe: Implementation challenges and possibilities

Muwaniki, Chenjerai; McGrath, Simon; Manzeke-Kangara, Muneta Grace; Wedekind, Volker; Chamboko, Tafireyi

Abstract

There is a need for the agricultural technical vocational education and training curriculum in Zimbabwe to be reformed so that it can respond to changes in farmer demographics, the expanding roles of agricultural extension officers (AEOs), changes in technology and climate change. The current agriculture curriculum was developed for a different context altogether; therefore, it now lacks relevance to the prevailing socioeconomic , political and environmental changes. There is a need for the curriculum to respond to the evolving needs of farmers, AEOs and institutions providing agricultural extension, and to match the changes in AEOs' occupation role profiles. This article draws on curricular documents from five institutions involved in the agricultural extension curriculum and policy, together with 22 respondents, with the aim of exposing gaps in the agricultural extension curriculum. In addition, the article explores the ways in which the curriculum can be reimagined to meet the needs of small-scale farmers, AEOs and emerging agricultural developments and digital technologies. The authors advance what might be the processes of change in the curriculum, highlighting the weaknesses of the current curriculum as well as what a more responsive curriculum for Zimbabwe should look like in the light of both local and international expectations. In so doing, it contributes to a wider international debate about agricultural education reform.

Citation

Muwaniki, C., McGrath, S., Manzeke-Kangara, M. G., Wedekind, V., & Chamboko, T. (2022). Curriculum reform in agricultural vocational education and training in Zimbabwe: Implementation challenges and possibilities. Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training, 5(1), 94-115. https://doi.org/10.14426/jovacet.v5i1.248

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Nov 17, 2022
• Publication Date: Nov 17, 2022
• Deposit Date: Nov 25, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 13, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training
• Publisher: University of the Western Cape
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 22
• Pages: 94-115
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.14426/jovacet.v5i1.248
• Keywords: Agricultural education and training (AET), curriculum reform, conservation agriculture, agricultural extension, vocational education and training (VET)
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/14039359
• Publisher URL: https://jovacet.ac.za/index.php/JOVACET/article/view/248