GHANA and Israel have signed a plan of cooperation in the field of agriculture, aimed to enhance the already existing collaboration between the two countries in that field.

Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Fisheries, and Mr Yossi Gal, Senior Deputy Director-General for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, signed the agreement last Sunday at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.

A statement issued by the Israeli Embassy in Ghana, said the agreement was also aimed to encourage and direct cooperation between the two countries in various fields of acquaculture and fisheries research and development as well as encouraging the establishment of aquaculture enterprises in the private sector.

"Specifically, the cooperation is expected to include human resource development and capacity building, technological transfer and identification of research and development topics of mutual interest," it said.

The agreement followed a series of engagement between the Israeli Centre for International Cooperation, known as MASHAV, and the Ministry of Fisheries of Ghana in January this year. Subsequent to this, a MASHAV consultant, Yitzhak Simon, visited Ghana to assess the prospect of cooperation in aquaculture and fisheries between Israel and Ghana and consequently submitted the final report of his mission to both governments for consideration while its recommendations were incorporated into the Plan of Cooperation.

Last August Israel sponsored a two-week training on aquaculture in Ghana, which was conducted by two MASHAV experts. The training, which was facilitated by Ghana’s Ministry of Fisheries, attracted 35 participants from government agencies, academia and the private sector.