India and Ghana have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in agricultural research, education, technology transfer and commercialisation.
The agreement was signed between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, and Ghana’s Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), Accra, with the collaboration aimed at advancing South-South and India-Africa agricultural cooperation.
The initial phase will focus on vegetable crop research, particularly tomato research and development. ICAR will support the scaling up of proven technologies and introduction of suitable high-yielding tomato lines and varieties to strengthen domestic tomato production in Ghana.
The partnership will also cover processing and value addition of cassava, yam and other tuber crops, along with post-harvest management, including cold storage, refrigerated transportation, sorting, grading and processing technologies.
The MoU provides for exchanges of scientists, technologists, germplasm, breeding materials and technical knowledge, as well as joint research projects and institutional linkages. Arima Farms Ltd., Ghana, has been recognised as the commercial partner to CSIR-CRI for specified research and commercialisation activities.
A Joint Working Group comprising representatives from ICAR and CSIR-CRI will oversee the partnership, review progress and guide implementation. The collaboration is expected to facilitate the adoption and commercial application of agricultural technologies while supporting sustainable agricultural development and improved livelihoods in Ghana.