Israel to train Ghanaian graduates in agriculture
Ghana and Israel have agreed in principle for the training of Ghanaian graduates in greenhouse technology by Israel. A formal agreement to that effect is yet to be signed.
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Under the arrangement, Ghanaian graduates holding diplomas and degrees in agriculture will be required to undertake an initial three-month training in Ghana with an Israeli private company, Agritop Limited, before going to Israel to continue the training.
The selected students will be expected to spend 24 months in Israel for further training and practical work in selected community farms in Kibbutzs.
Kibbutzs are communities in Israel, whose livelihood are traditionally based on agriculture.
Agreement
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and the head of the Israeli International Development Agency (MASHAV), Ambassador Gil Hasbel, reached the agreement during an official visit to Israel by Dr Akoto last month.
During the 10-day working visit by Dr Akoto to Israel, which was at the invitation of the Israeli government, he visited selected Kibbutzs, which specialise in various areas of agricultural enterprise, including farms and cooperative marketing institutions.
The visit was to help the minister to acquaint himself with the internal workings of those institutions and how they operated their farms and agri-businesses.
It was also to give the minister an opportunity to meet with government officials and discuss possible areas of cooperation and agricultural development.
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Duration of training
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra last Friday on his return, Dr Akoto explained that an agreement to formalise the arrangement would be signed in Accra by the Ghana Government and Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, on behalf of his government, later this year.
It will take effect from June 2018, during which 60 graduates will go to Israel for the training.
He said under the agreement, the Ghanaians would undergo further training, including practical hands-on work on the farms they would be attached to, for up to 24 months, depending on their area of specialisation – vegetables, seeds and others.
Dr Akoto said it was expected that the number of graduates would increase to 100 in 2019 and reach 200 in 2020, depending on the success of the initial intake.
He explained that after the successful 24-month training, the graduates would be required to return to Ghana where they would be assisted by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to set up their own greenhouse businesses, by providing them with land and subsidised inputs.
Dr Akoto said the programme was meant to rally Ghanaian youth for the production of vegetables for export to the European market.
Visit
Speaking on his visit, Dr Akoto said it gave him a first-hand information on how the Kibbutzs operated.
He said he also toured the MILUOT Central Agricultural Cooperative, near the port city of Haifa in Northern Israel, which specialised in the cultivation of bananas and avocado pear in the desert, using the latest irrigation and netting technology.
Dr Akoto said he later visited the jointly owned marketing centre, where farm produce from all farms belonging to the Kibutzs were transported, prepared and packaged for shipment directly to European supermarkets.