Kwadaso Agric College Students Showcase Market-Ready Agribusiness Ventures as EU-Funded CB-VET Project Ends

More than 500 students at Kwadaso Agricultural College have completed a three-year entrepreneurship and business incubation programme under the EU-funded CB-VET Ghana Project, culminating in an exhibition of market-ready, eco-friendly agribusiness products that ranged from processed foods and packaged farm produce to digital farming solutions and climate-smart innovations.

The VET Ecosystems for Employability in Ghana (CB-VET) project, a milestone of the European Union's Erasmus+ initiative, ran from December 2023 to November 2026. Through the project, lecturers were trained in modern teaching methods, business incubation, and industry engagement, while students were exposed to hands-on product development, costing, branding, packaging, and pitching business ideas to potential investors and partners.

From Theory to Enterprise

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Principal of Kwadaso Agricultural College Albert Appiah Amoako said the entrepreneurship programme was deliberately designed as a joint intervention to strengthen Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET), making it more practical, entrepreneurial, digitally responsive, and aligned with industry and labour-market needs.

"The traditional model of agricultural education, which focused heavily on theory and production alone, no longer meets the needs of today's agricultural economy," Amoako said. "Employers now require graduates who can process, package, market, manage businesses and apply digital tools to solve farm and agribusiness problems."

He added that the project had repositioned the college not only as a training institution but as a hub for innovation, incubation, and enterprise development for young people interested in agriculture.

Industry-Education Collaboration

Vice Principal Dr. Ishak Shaibu noted that the project fostered collaboration between training institutions, private enterprises, public institutions, and other agricultural stakeholders to ensure that training responds to real industry needs. He said CB-VET promoted entrepreneurial learning, practical business development, and a stronger link between agricultural education and employment opportunities.

Hans Nijhoff, Senior Project Consultant at Maastricht School of Management, which partnered on the initiative, highlighted that the programme equipped students and trainers with skills in Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) production, agro-food processing, and digital farming technologies. He emphasised that climate-smart production is particularly important as farmers and agribusinesses must adapt to changing weather patterns, soil degradation, and rising production costs while still meeting growing demand for food.

"By linking training directly to private-sector needs, the project has helped reduce the mismatch between what graduates learn in school and what employers and the market actually require," Nijhoff said.

A Sector Under Pressure

Ashanti Regional Director of Agriculture Dr. David Anambam described the initiative as timely, noting that agriculture's contribution to Ghana's economy—food and nutrition security, employment, income generation, and rural development—is increasingly threatened by climate change, technological advancement, changing market demands, and the need for sustainable production systems.

"Training institutions must therefore produce graduates who are not only knowledgeable but also technically competent, innovative, entrepreneurial and capable of addressing real-world challenges," Anambam said.

He commended the European Union for its support through the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Vocational Education and Training programme, as well as Ghanaian and European partners for their collaboration.

Beyond the Exhibition

The Product Exhibition and Business Pitch Competition wrapped up three years of intensive learning but also marked the beginning of new ventures. Several showcased business concepts were identified as having major commercial potential and will continue to receive mentorship, networking, and incubation support through the CB-VET Ghana project.

The project utilised frameworks such as the Business Model Canvas (BMC) to help training centres build income-generating services, reflecting a broader shift in Ghana's ATVET sector toward equipping graduates with the skills to create enterprises rather than merely seek employment.