The ambassador of Israel to Cameroon H.E. Nadav Cohen made a working visit to Obala on Monday, October 20, 2014. He was there to enhance the agricultural cooperation existing between Israel and Cameroon. He was received at the Institut Agricole d'Obala (IAO) alongside the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Essimi Menye.
The visit had had two main objectives. Firstly, he attended the closing ceremony of the first workshop in Cameroon on drip irrigation techniques organized by the Embassy of Israel and IAO. The procedures of the use of drip irrigation were displayed as the result of a 3 day workshop.
This practice is an Israeli innovation which Israel intends to share with other countries around the world in order to boost their agricultural sector. The coordinator of the workshop was Mr. Hissene Hassan, an expert in agriculture who attended, in the past years, two short farming courses in Israel. In the workshop, he taught the students of IAO theories and practices of the use drip irrigation.
The second purpose was to pursue the new training program in Israel which started last year between Israel and the IAO. Therefore, the ambassador welcomed, at the ceremony, the 19 IAO students, that returned from Israel for a one year training activities in agriculture. He also heard first hand from the students about their experiences in Israel. The new program is organized by the International Centre of Agricultural Studies (AGROSTUDIES) in collaboration with the Embassy of Israel and Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV).
This group of students was the first batch of this new initiative between Israel and Cameroon. The success of the first session has permitted the extension of the program to other schools which are the National Cooperative College, Bamenda and the Centre Régional d'Agriculture, Ebolowa.
Furthermore, the ambassador bade farewell to the second batch of 11 IAO students going to Israel for the same training program (more than 40 students from Cameroon will go to Israel this year for the program). The students will benefit from practical modern techniques in agriculture as they will farm with Israelis and also earn a monthly stipend.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Essimi Menye, in his speech at this occasion, said that the agricultural sector in Cameroon is benefiting from a huge contribution from Israel. He said that the key to any development is training and Israel offers training in a very vital aspect of development which leads to food security, something which many countries do not do often.
The director of IAO, Mr. Louis Ndzié, on his part, thanked the State of Israel for participating in achieving the goal of IAO which is to give students professional competence in the field of agriculture and to support them financially in the accomplishment of their agro-pastoral project after school. He added that this partnership with Israel will enable the creation of wealth in the rural area. He also entreated the State of Israel to continue the corporation.
H.E. Nadav Cohen was pleased by the reactions of the people, present in Obala. He expressed his wish that the partnership would continue and many more Cameroonians could benefit from it. He emphasized that all this is within the framework of a win-win partnership. Those students work with the Israeli farmers in the fields while contributing to the Israeli agriculture which will enable them improve skills in agriculture. This cooperation symbolizes the solid relationship between the State of Israel and the Republic of Cameroon.
By Wanah Immanuel Bumakor