Model Farm Schools
Teaching skills & safe practices
ARISE operates Model Farm Schools to provide high-quality, hands-on vocational education in general farming for adolescents.
The Model Farm Schools (MFS) aim to improve the appeal to youth of agricultural businesses in rural communities and to promote youth’s long-term income-generation. They also help youth of legal working age to learn safe practices and to earn income to help improve their families’ livelihoods.
The training courses are provided to offer youth mentoring and access to technical and vocational skills. The courses are tailored to conditions in each country. For example in Malawi and Zambia they are aimed primarily at out-of-school youth, specifically those of legal working age. In Brazil however, most of the children also attend school.
The MFS counter the negative image that youth often have about agriculture by teaching improved farming techniques and entrepreneurship skills. This allows young people to see how agriculture can be a profitable and rewarding activity that builds on their rural heritage. This is particularly relevant because many youth seek to leave the countryside when they grow up to pursue careers in towns and cities. Participants learn new agricultural technologies and life skills, and the training ensures that children gain the knowledge and skills needed to achieve food security and a decent livelihood within the rural economy.
Landcare training
Through the MFS training course teenagers learn technical agricultural skills and have the opportunity to create their own demonstration plots.
