Agriculture In-Service Training and Communications Centre (AITCC)

Training and Communication Unit with its available human resources, in conjunction with the personnel from the other Divisions with the Ministry, will focus on developing the technical capacities of the farming communities.

To satisfy the continuing needs of the farming communities and the Department, the Training and Communication Unit will seek to: -

Activities	JUSTIFICATION/EXPECTED RESULTS
1. Institutional Development
a. Database and Farmers Register	Information collected by staff members is presently not user friendly and thus difficult to retrieve. As a result the Unit will establish a database with relevant information of farmers, crops cultivated, livestock reared, size of holdings, etc.
2. Staff Development
a. Agricultural Health	With the present challenges facing the Ministry, it was decided that efforts to make the staff more versatile be pursued. As a result, this Unit will organize Workshops for the staff Plant Quarantine and the Crops/Animal Extension Services to be trained in all aspects of quarantine duties. This training will allow any staff member to be deployed to any Port of Entry at any given time to execute duties. Three (3) Seminars will be conducted – March, July, and November.
b. Information Technology	In view of the rapidly increasing use of Information and Communications Technology in agricultural extension, the Unit in collaboration with the National Data Management Authority has organized for staff members to be trained in this area. Four (4) Training Sessions will be organized – February, May, August, and November.
c. Public Service Ministry’s organised training in Management, etc.	There is need for continuous training of staff members in management, supervision, etc, and staff members will be nominated to attend training seminars organized by the Public Service Ministry. The aim is to expose staff to new development in these fields which will impact positively on the delivery of our services. Training Sessions will be conducted from February through to November.
d. Technical Overseas Training	There is need to developed a structured system in selecting staff members for overseas training. As a result the Unit will develop a database on the strengths and competencies of staff members to aid in the goal. No scheduled is established, such training is usually undertaken as they becomes available.
e. Technical Presentation on Overseas and Local Training	Benefactors of technical training programmes, both overseas and local, seldom present technical seminars to their peers on the training. The Unit will be putting a place a system whereby on conclusion of these training programmes, the recipients will be mandated to make a presentation to the technical staff on the subject of the training. No scheduled is established, will be conducted on the completion of the relevant training.
3. Farmers' Training
a. Technical Information Packages	Farmers and investors are generally interested in obtaining technical information packages relevant to Guyana on the various crops and livestock commodities. The Unit will develop these packages to fulfill this need. This will be done continually.
b. Training Packages	Extension staff are in constant need of current and updated training materials to conduct training in the various areas of agricultural extension. The Unit will develop these packages to aid the staff in their training programmes. This will be done continually.
c. Broadcast Extension	It has been concluded that the Ministry must do more to promote its activities by seeking new means to reach more farmers. As such efforts to utilize the radio and television media will be pursued in the Ministry’s farmer education programme. This will be done fortnightly.
d. Monitor Farmers’ Training Seminars	Training Sessions are continually conducted across the Regions by the local technical staff. There is need to ensure that the information disseminated is standardized and current. The Unit will continue to monitor these training and also provide support. This will be done continually.