Organization: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Registration deadline: 31 Dec 2015
Starting date: 01 Feb 2016
Ending date: 12 Feb 2016
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology - Department of Food Science and Technology is happy to announce that the "Everything you need to know about sweetpotato"- training of trainer's course is now open for registration.
This is a 10-day Training of Trainers course designed to provide the participant with the skills and knowledge to train others will be offered by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in partnership with CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CRI) and the International Potato Center (CIP). The course has been adapted for Ghana from an original course, “Everything you ever wanted to know about sweetpotato” developed and implemented by the International Potato Center under the “Reaching Agents of Change” project. Since 2012, the course has been offered to extension educators, NGO workers and others engaged in the promotion of sweetpotato for health and wealth in Mozambique (Portuguese), Nigeria (English), Tanzania (Swahili), and in 2014, the course was offered in Burkina Faso (French).
In 2016, as part of an AGRA-funded project, “Development and Promotion Of Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato in Volta,” the “Everything you need to know about Sweetpotato” course will be offered at KNUST and CSIR-CRI in Kumasi, Ghana. Its sole aim is to consolidate other efforts in promoting OFSP by creating conscious awareness of its health and nutritional benefits with a resultant increase in demand of diversified, convenient and economically viable products including OFSP puree as a wheat flour substitute. Instructors knowledgeable on all aspects of the sweetpotato for health and wealth will serve as resource people, using an adult-education approach of learning-by-doing, to provide educators and trainers with the skills and knowledge to train others on all aspects of sweetpotato for profit and health. Participants will be drawn from all regions of Ghana, and beyond.
The overall objective of this training is to build the capacity of national implementing agencies in Ghana and the West-African region to drive uptake of OFSP. At the end of the course, participants will understand:
- Key aspects of sweetpotato production, storage, processing, product value addition, marketing and entrepreneurship
- Selection, multiplication and preservation of clean sweetpotato planting materials, as well as pest and disease management
- Good nutrition and the importance of Vitamin A
- Gender roles in production, storage, processing, product value addition marketing and entrepreneurship
- Farmer clients’ sweetpotato systems improvement, and
- Be able to deliver their own sweetpotato training course
Topics to be covered
The specific topics that will be taught include:
- Origin and importance of sweetpotato
- Sweetpotato varietal selection and characteristics
- Orange-fleshed sweetpotato and nutrition
- Sweetpotato seed systems
- Sweetpotato production and management
- Sweetpotato pest and disease management
- Harvesting and postharvest management
- Marketing and value addition
- Processing and utilization
- Gender and diversity aspects
- Monitoring of OFSP dissemination and uptake
- Entrepreneurship
Target audience
This course is aimed at senior public health and agricultural extension officers, team leaders from NGOs, researchers, leaders of farmer organizations, personnel from training and education institutions, agribusiness (input, output, processing and credit), other professionals and students who are in a position to influence practice or have the potential to do so in the short or medium term.
Training methodology
The training will be based on adult learning methodology combining lectures, case studies, discovery-based / experiential learning approaches, practical hands-on exercises, site visits, group work and plenary discussions. Participants will need to be active and involved as they bring different knowledge and experiences to the course. Participants will be expected to attend all courses, group work, discussions and hands-on exercises for the full length of the course. They will also be expected to develop their post-course action plans. The language of instruction will be English.
Facilitating team
Three institutions – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Crop Research Institute under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-CRI), and the International Potato Center (CIP) – with solid theoretical and practical experience on sweetpotato production and utilization comprise the facilitating team. Additional expertise will be drawn from Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to implement the course.
Certification
Participants who successfully complete the course will be awarded a certificate of participation.
How to register:
Registration/fee
A maximum of 30 participants will be accepted to foster a conducive learning environment. This Training of Trainers (ToT) course seeks participants from organizations committed to incorporating nutritious crops into their programs.
The fee for this 10-day intensive course is US$ 1350 for international participants and GH ¢ 4000 for Ghanaian participants, accommodation, meals, course materials and souvenirs. A limited number of scholarships are available.
Application
Interested persons are invited to send an application and motivation letter to the address below by 31st December, 2015. Women are particularly encouraged to apply.
OFSPTOTCourse@knust.edu.gh or knust_totcourse4ofsp@outlook.com