Fifty students from Ghana were among 1,600 students from Asia, Africa, and South America to successfully complete the annual Agrostudies project in Israel on Monday, 2 September.

The Agrostudies training is a joint project organized by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture.

In Ghana, the project is a collaboration between the Embassy of Israel, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and Agrostudies of Israel.

The students spent about 12 months in Israel during which they received training from various agronomists and agricultural instructors. They were trained in fields such as irrigation, aquaculture, fruits and vegetables with on the job training in 220 farms across Israel.

Various Ministers of Agriculture including Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Kennedy Osei Nyarko; Tanzania’s Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Japhet Ngailonga Hasunga; and the Minister of Water of Togo, Tchede Issa Bouraïma Kanfitine participated in the closing ceremony.

During the closing ceremony, Mr Andy Tsatsu Kwawukume, a participant from Ghana was selected to speak on behalf of all the students. Other Ghanaian participants also displayed some colourful Ghanaian cultural dance.

On Tuesday, 3 September, the Embassy of Israel in Accra and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture held a farewell reception for another 71 students who will be participating in the next session of the AgroStudies training in Israel.

Interacting with the participants at the reception, Shani Cooper, Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone expressed her delight about the cooperation between Israel and Ghana on the Agrostudies project and encouraged the participants to represent Ghana very well as the Embassy looks forward to their return to be leaders in the agricultural sector in Ghana.

On his part, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Tree Crops, Mr George Oduro, reiterated the need for the participants to return to Ghana after their successful completion of the training.

He also charged them to be of good behaviour and give off their best during the training to acquire more skills that will benefit the agricultural sector in Ghana upon their return.