Abstract:
This thesis deals with the history of Wặrặta agricultural college in south Gondar zone since 1968. By
using archival, oral and written secondary sources, the thesis gives an analysis of the value of agriculture,
land holding system, contribution and challenges of a college.
Agriculture plays significant role in the Ethiopian economy as more than 80% the population has depend
on the seasonal agricultural production. The agricultural system in Ethiopia on the other hand, has been
encountered by a lot of challenges in achieving sustainable development. As it is traditional and
subsistence it was inadequate to feed the tremendous growing society; the utility of modern technology and
basic education is also very limited. It is further noted that, low investment in generating skilled
agriculture labour force are one of the problems that hinder the transformation of the sector. Agricultural
change and development require the mobilization and development of human resource through education
and technical training consequently, there were a need to establish Wặrặta agricultural, technical and
vocational training colleges which primarily aim to train and provide skilled professionals who are
assigned to work closely with farmers..
The establishment of the college can be traced back to 1968 with the birth of the then national military
training. The very beginning of the establishment of Wặrặta Agricultural College has started as a national
defence force training centre during the reign of Haile Selassie I. The current area of the college
confiscated from the resident peasants’ livelihood farmland without any compensation. The land was also
a little bit narrow or not enough to conduct or give the training properly. So in 1980 the government took
some areas from the farmers and included under the center in order to expand the trial land of the college.
As has indicated earlier the college though originally established to train national military forces and in
1980 the center had transformed from military service to agricultural farmer training center. In the early
years after the completion of various facilities, the center trained many farmers and house wife in different
short term trainings. The College was also used for the training of Assistant Development Agents (ADAs),
first through a 12 + 6 months program and below but later improved to 12 + 9 months. Still they had
made significant change to qualify the DAs and make them better prepared for the task ahead
Keywords: Wặrặta Agricultural College, land holding system, challenge, social contribution,
developments.