India-US partnership launches agricultural training programme in Asia, Africa
26 Jul 2016
The ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare and the USAgency for International Development (USAID) have launched the second phase of the `Feed the Future India Triangular Training Programme', bringing specialised agriculture training to 1,500 agricultural professional across Africa and Asia.
The secretary to the minister of agriculture and farmers welfare S K Pattanayak and US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma launched the programme together at the National Agriculture Science Complex in New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, agriculture secretary Pattanayak said the government of India, represented by its the lead institution MANAGE and USAID, representing the US government, had, on 7 November 2005, signed limited scope cooperation agreement to continue the successful partnership programme covering more countries in Africa and Asia.
The new programme will be called `Feed The Future: India Triangular Training Programme', in which 32 training programme of 15 days duration will be conducted in India and 12 training programs of 10 days duration will be conducted in selected African and Asian countries during 2016-20, ie, for 4 years. The entire expenditure, including participants travel, insurance, lodging, boarding, local travel and programme fee will be met by USAID and MANAGE. The training areas will be identified based on demand analysis conducted in participating countries.
Pattanayak said 17 countries covered under the programme include Kenya, Malawi, Liberia, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, Botswana, Ethiopia in Africa and Afghanistan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Mongolia, and Vietnam in Asia. Besides, the faculty of MANAGE visited Cambodia and Vietnam in Asia and Tanzania and Mozambique in Africa as part of demand analysis.
US Ambassador Verma said that the harnessing of expertise and innovation of the two great countries will help unlock new opportunities to address global development challenges, bringing the world closer to the shared objective of eliminating global poverty and hunger.
Verma emphasised that the United States and India remain committed to their partnership of working together to break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger. Through sharing agriculture innovations worldwide, the US and India will help other countries develop their agriculture sectors, helping promote global prosperity and stability.
