§ 21. Mr. Joplingasked the Minister of Overseas Development if he will examine the need to set up short courses in tropical agricultural studies in Africa for graduates in temperate agricultural studies who are embarking on periods of service on the continent.
§ Mr. Oram: The courses already available at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of the West Indies are adapted to the requirements of service in tropical agriculture generally and we have not yet found any need to supplement these by the kind of course in Africa suggested by the hon. Member.
§ Mr. JoplingWould the hon. Gentleman look at this problem again, in view of the fact that the School of Tropical Agriculture in the West Indies has relatively few teachers with experience of African agriculture? The United States also has this problem and there may well be a case for setting up an institution of this sort for short courses for learning tropical agriculture in Africa itself.
§ Mr. OramWe have this matter under our attention, but the courses available in Trinidad cover the conditions and problems which agriculturists encounter in other tropical zones. We feel that familiarisation with local conditions is most effectively achieved by posting to a specific job.