Citrus farmers receive training from Israeli experts

About 140 citrus farmers from the Ashanti, Eastern and Central regions have undergone a two- week capacity building programme through transfer of technology towards improving citrus productivity in the country.

The Israeli Agency of International Development Cooperation - MASHAV, in partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the German International Development Cooperation, GIZ facilitated the training.

Press and Public Diplomacy Coordinator at the Embassy of Israel, Mr Seth Owusu-Mante, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, said the training was organised in two sessions.

The first session started on February 23 in Kumasi for 70 citrus farmers and technical officers from MoFA drawn from 21 citrus growing districts in the Ashanti Region ended on Friday February 26, the statement said.

The second session, which was also for 70 citrus farmers and technical officers from MOFA from the Eastern and Central regions, was held at the Bonsu Cocoa College from March 2 to March 5.

According to the statement the training was facilitated by two Israeli citrus and Bee Keeping experts - Mr Menachem Davidson and Mr Yeshaayhu Stern.

“The focus for this year’s training was on Citrus Agronomy, Quick Harvest with an aspect of Bee Keeping introduced to provide an alternative source of income for the citrus farmers,” it said.

The statement quoted Mr Charles Kwame Sackey from GIZ as saying, “Citrus production has the potential to become a major source of income for farmers and the Ghanaian economy as well as create employment for the teeming youth in the country.”

He expressed optimism that extension officers from MOFA who benefited from the training would support farmers to implement the information they have received.

Over 700 citrus farmers have benefited from MASHAV’s similar training sessions organised through this trilateral cooperation initiative since 2012, the statement said.

It said another training session will be organized for a different set of farmers before the end of the year.

The MASHAV, MoFA and GIZ trilateral cooperation aims at supporting the development of a thriving citrus industry in Ghana which falls in line with MoFA’s policy to enhance productivity for increased income and also to improve livelihood through the adoption of scientifically proven technologies and best practices in citrus production.