Thirteen Ghanaian agricultural graduates are in Israel for an 11-month internship programme in agriculture production.
It is expected to provide interns with intensive practical training in agriculture by working at companies in Israel that are engaged in large scale farming.
The programme, which was made possible through a collaboration between the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Government of Israel (GoI), is to sponsor 200 agriculture graduates to Israel this year.
The group, who left the country last Monday, brings the total number that have started their internship in Israel to 85 graduates, while the rest 115 graduates are at various stages of preparation for their trip.
Bidding farewell to the 13 beneficiaries at the KotoKa International Airport (KIA) in Accra, the Chief Director of MoFA, Mr Robert Patrick Ankobiah, urged the beneficiaries to be good ambassadors of the country in Israel as they embark on their 11-month internship.
Good ambassadors
“Other people who have benefited from the programme had held the flag of the country high and you (the 13 graduates) can only go there and keep it higher.
“I can assure you that between the Government of Ghana (GoG) and its counterpart in Israel, certain measures have been put in place to ensure that the beneficiaries gain the needed skills and knowledge to help transform the country’s agriculture sector,” he said.
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Life changing
He said the internship would be a life changing experience because the interns would acquire knowledge and return to support the agriculture sector.
The director stated that the programme was also part of an agenda by the government to modernise the country’s agriculture sector.
“We are now trying to modernise Ghana’s agriculture sector and Israel is a country with capacity and reputation with regard to agriculture,” he said.
The Chief Director also urged the interns to take advantage of the opportunities under the programme to broaden their scope of knowledge and skills.
“Take advantage of the opportunity and acquire the needed knowledge and skill for your own benefit and the country as a whole,” he added.
MoFA sponsorship
The Facilitator of the programme in Ghana, Mr Prince Kwame Boakye, noted that the programme was a collaboration between the MoFA and the Government of Israel.
“The interns are to work and study in agriculture farms and gain practical knowledge and skills so that they can return and apply them,” he said.
Agriculture technology
One of the beneficiaries, Mr Abraham Narh, said for the government to transform the country’s agriculture sector, it needed to learn from countries equipped with agriculture technology such as Israel.
As a result, he said as an intern he would understudy Israel’s agriculture technology and bring the knowledge back home to address the country’s post-harvest losses.