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Blackfordby College of Agriculture

Concession, Nova Scotia, Canada • 12 Employees
Government Administration

Blackfordby College of Agriculture is situated approximately 60km north west of Harare on Klein Kopjes Farm in Concession, Mazowe District. The farm is 1,350ha in extent and is located in Natural Region IIA of the agro ecological zones of Zimbabwe.Blackfordby College was founded in 1974 (then as the Tobacco Training Institute, TTI) at the direct request of members of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA). This was at a time of crisis in the industry when static prices and disappointing yields were threatening the viability of the country's large scale commercial farmers.A Management Board was set up by the Institute, comprising successful farmers, researchers and extension personnel from the private sector. Following the results of a survey into ways to improve farm productivity, training programmes for farmers and their employees were introduced in 1975 and Odar & Stoneridge Farms in Harare South were purchased as a venue for the training institute (The College was later to relocate to Klein Kopjes Farm in Concession in 1995 in order to pave way for the City of Harare's expansion programme).One day seminars for farmers, managers and their assistants were introduced in 1976 and a one-year tobacco diploma course was initiated in 1977 which received academic recognition from Government. This course was discontinued in 2000 following the diversification out of tobacco by several commercial farmers into other agricultural disciplines, leading to the status quo, being the introduction of a Diploma in General Agriculture in 1995 which is the main course on offer at Blackfordby.