Mwimba College of Agriculture

MWICA

Mwimba College of Agriculture (MWICA) is an agriculture training institution specializing in the training of front-line staff in agriculture sector. It is a training arm of the Agricultural Research and Extension Trust (ARET) and it started its operations in 2001. The college  offers a diploma in General Agriculture. The college also offers on demand and tailor-made short courses throughout the year.

In February, 2021 the college received a $50,000 grant from the Center for Agricultural Transformation (CAT). The funds were used to set up a community-based bee keeping enterprise. MWICA is the coordinating unit of this enterprise and is the off-taker of the honey produced by farmers under the enterprise’s out grower scheme. There are a total of 400 farmers split into 20 clubs of 20 members each. Of these members, 80% are women and the youth. Through the project, MWICA has realised an imporvement in its forest management with decreased bush fires and conserved forest from wanton cutting down of trees from surrounding community. Again the social economic status of the surrounding community has also improved. The college with funding from GIZ is also running a business centre of sunflower oil production by encouraging surrounding farmers to grow alot of sunflower and process it into oil using the college facility so that they realise high economic benefits from the processed products.