Every year the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension, and Rural Development takes its final year Agricultural Economics students to the NAMPO Harvest Day in Bothaville. This year 24 students, along with their lecturers, enjoyed this great opportunity on 15 May 2019. The purpose of this excursion is to promote student development by providing students with the opportunity to network and engage with the vast amount of market participants within the agricultural industry.

"I believe that taking final year students to NAMPO allows them to network with some of the biggest names in the agricultural sector. NAMPO provides these students with a better idea of what they can expect when entering the workplace as well as a better understanding of how integrated the agricultural sector is. I think that this trip especially helps students who did not grow up on farms to understand all the complexities and aspects of this sector. I furthermore believe that the most important aspect of this trip is that it helps students to generate a better idea of what career they want to pursue." - Juan-Pierre Kotze (teaching assistant).

To ensure student engagement at NAMPO, the students received the task of writing an easy on the latest trend in Agriculture. This year a lot of students focused on Innovation in Agriculture. The students who wrote the best essays this year will be presented with short job shadowing opportunities with our sponsors. This is an excellent opportunity for final year students to start making a lasting impression in the industry. We want to thank our long term sponsors for assisting us in making these opportunities possible: AFGRI, Tongaat Hulett Starch, Pimankus and Farmwise Grains.

As a Department, we pride ourselves in walking the extra mile to ensure that our students receive the best possible opportunities to engage and network with industry participants to ultimately promote their work readiness.