Some 51 Ghanaian students have returned home from an agriculture training programme in Israel.
They left the country in 2018 for a practical agriculture training across cooperative farms in Israel called kibbutz.
The training lasted for a period of 11 months and provided the Ghanaian students the opportunity to acquire knowledge in greenhouse farming, among others.
They were received on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on Sunday night, September 8, 2019, by the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Food And Agriculture, Robert Patrick Ankobiah.
They thanked the President of Ghana and all stakeholders for the opportunity given them, pledging to use the skills they have acquired to aid national development.
Mr. Ankobiah was positive that they would contribute greatly to the development of Ghana’s economy with the knowledge they have acquired in Agriculture.
With their arrival, the way has been paved for an additional 70 agriculture graduates from Ghana to travel to Israel this year for the same practical training programme.
The 70 are to depart Ghana in September 2019 and return by August 2020.
When they arrive in Israel, they are expected to be attached to the cooperative farms, where they would work for five days on the field and one day in a classroom, each week.
The training program is a partnership between Ghana and the State of Israel.
The increase in Ghana’s quota to 70 in 2019, says the Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Shani Cooper-Zubida, was based on the excellent conduct of the first batch of Ghanaians sent to Israel.
The 70 are part of graduates who have already undergone a three-month training in greenhouse technology.
They are among a total of 1,600 students from Asia, South America and Africa who would be attached to host farmers who are required to train them in various forms of agricultural practices such as irrigation, aquaculture, vegetable farming, among others.
BY Melvin Tarlue