Skip to main content

Israel-Ghana-Germany cooperate to build capacity of citrus farmers



MASHAV, the Israeli Agency of International Development Cooperation, in cooperation with the German GIZ and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) will be training citrus farmers and technical officers of MoFA drawn from the Eastern and Ashanti regions in a two week training workshop to upgrade their knowledge and enhance their capacity in citrus production.

The workshop, which is intended to revitalize the citrus industry through interventions that will attract investments in fruit processing facilities and ultimately generate higher income levels for the citrus growers; will be facilitated by two Israeli citrus experts Dr. Shmuel Gross (entomologist) and Mr. Dubi Raber (agronomists) who were in the country last year to undertake similar training with some selected citrus farmers and MoFA staff. 

Last year, about one hundred citrus farmers in the Western and Ashanti regions were taken through similar training to increase their knowledge in best practices.  Participants will be taken through topics such as nursery management, planning citrus orchard, cultural practices, and factors militating against citrus production, irrigation and nutrition.

An initiative of a trilateral cooperation between Israel's International Development Agency (MASHAV), Ghana's Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), and Germany's International Cooperation (GIZ), the aim of the cooperation is to contribute to improved quality citrus production for improved sustainable income to all actors within the citrus value chain and empower citrus farmers across the country.

Israeli Ambassador, H.E Sharon Bar-li remarks that "Israel Agricultural abilities have grown considerably since the Jaffa Oranges became famous around the world and became a primary export for the fledgling Israeli State in 1948. With our knowledge and experience, it is only natural that we accepted the request of our friends at MoFA. 
Agriculture is the backbone of the Ghana economy and we are especially pleased to be contributing into making it a little sturdier."     

According to GIZ, the Citrus Trilateral Cooperation is contributing to solve some challenges confronting productivity levels of the citrus industry and enhance technical competence of MoFA technical staff and farmers in line with the Government of Ghana’s Tree Crops policy. All the interventions will significantly improve the competiveness of Ghana’s citrus industry within the sub region.

Director of Crop Services at MoFA, Emmanuel Asante-Krobea remarks that ‘the Ministry of Food and Agriculture recognizes the potential of the tree crops sub-sector in general and the citrus industry in particular to improve the fortunes of the agricultural sector of the economy and is doing its best to revamp it in line with the tree crops policy of 2012 within the constraints it finds itself.
The Government of Ghana is grateful for the support being provided by the German and Israeli Governments under this trilateral cooperation to improve the citrus industry’.

Ghana's citrus yield currently stands at 20-25 tons per hectare - against an industry average of 70-80 tons per hectare in Israel. Ends

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vodafone sells 45% shares in Verizon for US$130 billion

Vodafone has sold its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to US telecoms group Verizon Communications in one of the biggest deals in corporate history. The US$130 billion (£84bn) deal was announced by Vodafone after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange. The company will return £54 billion to its shareholders, of which £22 billionn will go to shareholders in the UK. Vodafone will also invest money in its business, with funds earmarked for high speed mobile phone networks. It said that by 2017 its main five European markets would have almost complete 4G coverage. Possibly it would be wrong to carp and wring hands that Vodafone won't be paying a penny of tax to the British taxman” Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said: "The transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue our leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for consumers and enterprises, both in our developed markets and across our emerging markets businesses." The...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shortage of weighing cards hit major hospitals in Accra

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express There is scarcity of Child Health Records Book (weighing cards), in some major public hospitals in the capital, information reaching the Daily Express indicates. Checks by this paper revealed that while some of the hospitals have being encountering the shortage for about a year now, others started experiencing it six months ago. In place of the Child Health Record Book (weighing card), the nursing mothers are given a single card on which information of children are recorded on it. Those hospitals identified are the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu Polyclinic, Kaneshie Polyclinic, Adabraka Polyclinic and the Ridge Hospital. At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nursing mothers are given yellow cards in place of the weighing cards. The Public Relations Secretariat at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said such information has not come to their notice and for that matter they cannot comment on it. “We do not have some ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Barbering Salons, bridging the unemployment gap in Ghana

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong Barbering business in Ghana is money making venture, depending on the location of the shop. Various barbering shops scattered across the country charges according to the location of the shop. The nature and sustainability of every barbering shop depends on the location of the shop. The location will determine how much one can charge a customer for barbering his or her hair. Checks indicate that some barbering shops located at Spintex, East Legon and Osu Oxford street charges between GHc15.00 and GHc20.00 per hair cut. At South La Estate, it will cost a customer to pay GHc4.00 for hair cut, while one will have to pay GHc3.00 to barber his or her hair at a place like Nima, Maamobi and Mallam Gbawe. Royal Vulture Executive Barbering Salon is one of the biggest barbering salons one can locate within Accra. One is its shops is located at Madina, near Taxi rank while one is located at Accra New Town, near the Post Office. Customers at Madina pay GHc7.00 ...
7 comments
Read more