Popota Agricultural College (PAC) was established in 1965 to train scheme managers, sectional supervisors and extension staff under the Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ). In 1981, the training centre was handed over to the Department of Agriculture after the reorganization of TBZ.

The training centre was transformed into an Agricultural Training College in 1983 and only training agricultural extension staff in Advanced Tobacco Management (ATM) at certificate level, consisting of two semesters of course work and six months field attachment on a commercial tobacco farm.

In 2010, the college did carry out curriculum review in order to realign the college in a position that it can make maximum impact in agricultural production and national development.

In 2013, the curriculum review resulted into development of a new training programme called “SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT”, which was a two-year certificate programme broken down into four semesters and the name changed from Popota Tobacco Training College to “Popota Agricultural College”

In 2018, the College curriculum was harmonised with other Agricultural Training Institutions (ATIs) under the Ministry of Agriculture.

The College now offers a CERTIFICATE IN GENERAL AGRICULTURE. The course has a multi-disciplinary approach and contextualizes emerging issues like climate change, gender, entrepreneurship, sustainability and developmental issues among others to make it relevant to the current rural developmental needs. The two-year certificate programme is broken down into four semesters.

The College also offers a diploma in General Agriculture under Open and Distance Learning mode.However, training in tobacco production has continued as part of the new and improved course.

Popota Agricultural College is situated in Choma town, the provincial capital of the Southern Province of Zambia. Choma is located 290km south of Lusaka along the Great North Road and 200km from the tourist capital, Livingstone. The college is 7km west of Choma town, along the old Macha road.

Choma is a predominantly agricultural town with a dynamic society and attractive natural setting inviting you to consider it home sweet home. Drums of Choma are ever sounding and reverberating, reminiscent of African culture. Commercial farms teeming with numerous breeds of livestock, maize and tobacco growing and irrigation systems are prominent features synonymous with the identity of the inhabitants and activities of this beautiful area. Because of its vast commercial farms and traditional agriculture, Choma is a net exporter of maize, tobacco and cattle to other cities within Zambia.

Through practical training, farm based research, outreach programmes, consultancy services, collaboration with relevant national and regional institutions and continuous curriculum review, the college hopes to become a training centre of excellence in sustainable agriculture and rural development practices.