Brief History of KAC

Kwadaso Agricultural College (KAC) was establish in 1922 at Kumasi with structures provided by the Cadbury and Fry which was the major buyer of cocoa in the then Gold Coast. The College was established to train initially young school leavers in cocoa production. As a result of the need to increase food production for both soldiers and the civil public due to World War II the institution was expanded in 1946 to admit secondary school leavers to be trained in General Agriculture. The learners were employed as frontline staff or Agricultural Assistants of the then Department of Agriculture. In 1948 the Department of Agriculture acquired the land of the Central Agriculture Station from the Asantehene for Agricultural Research and Training. Structures were constructed for Seed Multiplication Centre, Cocoa Division, Soil and Crop Research as well as for training.

The College was therefore moved from what is now known as Cadbury Hall (the regional offices of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture) to its present site in 1952 and became the Kwadaso Agricultural Training Center. The College continued to train GCE/SSCE holders for a certificate in General Agriculture and all learners were employed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture until 1996 when the programme was reviewed to train the learners for the whole agricultural sector. The curriculum was subsequently reviewed to include subjects such as Non-Traditional Agriculture and automatic employment of learners by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture stopped.

In September 1999, a Diploma in Agricultural Extension Programme affiliated to the University of Cape-Coast was added to the certificate in General Agriculture as a result of a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) the Winrock International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in the USA and the University of Cape Coast.

The Diploma in Agricultural Extension programme is meant for upgrading the skills and knowledge of staff of MoFA as well as other private candidates, both local and foreign. In 2007, Kwadaso and Ohawu Agricultural Colleges started the Diploma in General Agriculture programme in an attempt to phase out the certificate programme.

The certificate programme was completely phased out and successfully replaced with the Diploma in General Agriculture programme in June, 2009. This brings the college’s focus on only programme currently running; 3-year Diploma in General Agriculture.