Aiming to promote international cooperation in agricultural technology and help African nations cultivate agricultural talent, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) was commissioned this year (2026) by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Affairs to organize the 4th “Intensive Training Course for African Elites”. The three-week training program ran from June 22 to July 10, featuring professional courses, hands-on training, and industrial field trips. By sharing Taiwan’s experience and achievements in smart agriculture, tropical agriculture, livestock management, and sustainable development, the program fostered agricultural technology exchanges between Taiwan and African countries while cultivating agricultural professionals with an international perspective.
This session welcomed a total of 27 trainees from 6 countries, including the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Republic of Somaliland, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria. The participants comprised agricultural elites recommended by diplomatic missions in Africa, including government agricultural officials, university faculty, private farm owners, and extension workers. Fully leveraging NPUST’s teaching and research strengths in tropical agriculture, smart agriculture, and sustainable development, the training program was designed to blend theory with practice. It began with country reports where trainees shared their country’s respective agricultural development statuses, followed by visits to the university’s College of Agriculture and International College to explore the schools’ features and achievements.
The professional curriculum covered critical topics such as tropical agricultural cultivation systems, soil health-promoting microorganisms, crop management, rational fertilization, integrated pest management (IPM), plant disease diagnosis and more. The courses helped trainees build comprehensive knowledge in tropical crop production and sustainable management while enhancing their understanding and practical capabilities in agricultural technology applications. Additionally, to strengthen industry-academia connections, visits were arranged to agricultural research and industrial sites including WorldVeg (World Vegetable Center), Known-You Seed Co., Ltd., Angel Garden, Ming Chuan Ecological Farm, and the on-campus Smart Farm. These visits provided trainees with an in-depth understanding of Taiwan’s diverse developments in variety seed cultivation, smart agricultural management, precision agriculture promotion, and leisure agriculture. Furthermore, tropical orchard practicums and agricultural machinery practice operation allowed trainees to experience firsthand tropical fruit tree cultivation, smart agricultural machinery equipment, and modern agricultural management models.
By combining theoretical lectures, laboratory operations, field activities, and corporate visits, this training program fully showcased NPUST’s teaching and research capacity in tropical, smart, and sustainable agriculture. It also enabled trainees from various African nations to gain an in-depth understanding of Taiwan’s achievements in agricultural technology while fostering opportunities for international cooperation and exchange. The trainees highly praised Taiwan’s advancements in agriculture technology, and expressed eagerness to bring the acquired knowledge back to their home countries to help enhance local industries. Having undertaken this project since 2023, NPUST has trained participants spanning numerous African countries, earning high praise and positive feedback for its curriculum. Relying on its profound agricultural technical foundation and rich international cooperation experience, the university actively cultivates international agricultural talents, exercises university social responsibility and continues to shine brightly in international agricultural diplomacy.
