From Aarhus (Denmark) to Mogadishu

My internship at home with SATG

My name is Faiza Mohamed, Agriculture student from the Buisness Academy of Aarhus, Denmark. I am currently doing 8 weeks, internship with Somali Agriculture Technical Group (SATG).

Faiza Mohamed, an agriculture student from Business Academy of Aarhus, Denmark

The reason why I have chosen SATG is that, SATG is a homebased agricultural organization focused on transforming education and agricultural technology to ensure farmers a better and secure future. They teach and coach students and local farmers and train them on  effective and sustainable  agriculture and animal husbandry.

Working with SATG, I therefore want to develop my professional skills and technical knowledge to meet my future goals of becoming an agricultural educator.This internship position will also enable me to be a part of the ongoing agricultural development in the region, in which SATG is the key player  training and developing the future progressive farmers.

So far, I have been with SATG for two weeks. During these two weeks, I have been privileged to attend some field day events in Afgoye district. The field days were about food and forage crop production and were held for both agriculture students, local farmers and other stakeholders in both crop and livestock sub-sectors.

The events have been successful with many participants, who  requested for more similar events in the future. It has been quite exciting for me as well to be a part of such events.

I have furthermore attended an animal nutrtion course for professional  from the livestock sub-sector. The course was about nutrition and the best –practice feed-supplementation for dairy animals.

Both the course and the field days have given me a great insight into the production of food and fodder in Somalia. I have gained knowledge about the farming methods,  fertilizer use, harvesting, and storage options for food crops and fodder. I was also exposed to new technologies  developed by SATG together with farmers on production of  different forage crops, maize and beans that are suitable for cultivation in Somalia.

In addition, I have got a great insight about milking hygiene and milk storage options.  The traditional storage system was replaced with a technology that allows dairy farmers to store  milk free of impurities and also  to cool the milk.

In conclusion,  there are many opportunities for agriculture development in Somalia. Since SATG is the main source of  technology development in agriculture in Somalia, I am very grateful to be a part of this organization as an intern. I hope to gain knowledge and to be able to apply what I have learned to contribute as an intern to my motherland.