By Florence Afriyie Mensah
Kwadaso (Ash), Feb.13, GNA – A total of 114 agricultural entrepreneurs, who have received training in agricultural value chain, under the Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) project, have graduated and received certification.
The training programme, which was a partnership between the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) and the Kwadaso Agricultural College, was funded by the European Union.
The beneficiaries drawn from the Ashanti and Western Regions of Ghana, are now graduates of SNV’s Basic and Advanced Skills training, under its Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) Programme.
Among the courses learnt at the training programme were the concepts of agro processing, agricultural value chain, climate smart agriculture, crop production and management, financial literacy and sensitization, livestock production, entrepreneurship, agricultural marketing and resource use efficiency.
Mr Awudu Damani Musah, Senior Skills Development Advisor at SNV Ghana on the Green Project, speaking at the graduation ceremony of the beneficiaries at Kwadaso near Kumasi, explained that in 2022, SNV Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kwadaso Agricultural College.
The agreement, according to him, was to provide certified training on climate smart agricultural practices to the youth who had completed SNV’s OYE Programme and were interested in agriculture or are entrepreneurs in the agriculture value chain.
He said that due to SNV’s focus on agriculture and agri-food, the organization had continued to work with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
“The success of today’s training programme is a result of years of shared learning and a solid foundation of effective partnership with MoFA,” he stated.
Mr Musah pointed out that, the youth were key partners in bridging the sustainable development gap, and it was important that the necessary opportunities were made available to them.
This was why the SNV was using the flagship OYE programme, which partnered public and private institutions to increase entrepreneurship and employability skills for youth job makers and job seekers.
He was optimistic that the theoretical and practical lessons beneficiaries had obtained would not only broaden knowledge but also expose them to essential sustainable and climate- smart practices.
This would help increase access to food and promote green and eco-friendly agricultural practices for Ghana.
Dr Ishak Shaibu, Vice Principal of Kwadaso Agricultural College, lauded the EU and SNV for the support extended to the school.
He said the school was placing emphasis on agricultural education training to benefit Ghana as the nation strived to ensure food security and increase productivity.
The Green project is a four-year action from the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, SNV and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
The project aims at creating greater economic and employment opportunities for youth, women and returning migrants by promoting and supporting sustainable, green businesses and providing employable skills training to youth job seekers in the Ashanti and Western Regions.
GNA