Abstract:
The internship was held at One Acre Fund Uganda Mukono Coffee Program from 28th March to 6th May 2022. Mukono coffee Program started in 2020 with 3,000 farmers in Mukono South and in 2022 it expanded to Mukono North. The coffee program mainly offered free agronomy coffee trainings and input sales at a discounted price to the coffee farmers that were organized in groups. Over 8,000 farmers have been enrolled in Mukono Coffee Program. The field attachment was intended to develop interest in agriculture professionalism, learn certain agricultural skills from the organization and appreciate the importance of hands on experience in agricultural production.
During this period, I was attached to the field Operations Department. Meeting and training the field officers were held on every Monday and meeting with the field lead team was on every Wednesday with field visits on Tuesday and Thursday. I was responsible for back checks on all the trainings delivered to the farmers and the field officers. This included giving feedback on the Monday; Wednesday meetings and field visits and giving recommendations for the issues identified. The field officers were not referring to the talking points and most of the field officers lacked knowledge in agronomy of the crop they were handling. However, I learnt how to write a report on the observations made from the field and the meetings, critically analyze the situation and challenges before giving the solution and write a project proposal on how to involve youths in coffee production. The attachment helped me to develop more interest in agricultural extension to be my center of focus and love agriculture as a way to overcome unemployment, interacting with the field team gave a clear picture of the kind of help and advice farmers really need to appreciate agriculture there by making me relevant to the development of the community. The attachment also helped me to focus on work objectives and get the work done so as to address the challenges that's to say have a practical experience.
Nevertheless, field officers should be thoroughly trained on agronomy, use visual aids during the training, and the internship program should take at least three months. Industrial training is an important component of education and training, which provides with real practical work experience in their areas of specialization.
