Kumasi — About 83 agricultural entrepreneurs under the Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) of the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation have graduated from the Kwadaso Agricultural College in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region at the weekend.
The beneficiaries, from Ashanti and Western Regions, went through weeks of intensive training facilitated by the College and extension officers from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
It was funded by the European Union and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana.
In 2022, SNV Ghana and Kwadaso Agricultural College, in partnership with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Ghana Education Service, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to train and award national general agricultural certificate to entrepreneurs in the agricultural value chain who had completed the OYE basic and advanced skills training.
The graduation ceremony, under the partnership, brings to 200 agricultural entrepreneurs trained to be climate resilient, sustainable and engage in farming practices that do not harm the environment or adversely affect people's health.
Mr Laouali Sada, SNV Project Manager, attributed the success to the solid foundation of effective partnership with MoFA.
He acknowledged the contributions of the European Union (EU) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana for making it possible for the partnership to come to fruition.
By funding the Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana, popularly known as GrEEN Project, "the European Union is continuously showing its dedication to promoting the growth of green jobs and green businesses at the local and national level ...and we at SNV Ghana are proud to partner with the EU to support job creation and skills development goals of the government of Ghana," he intoned.
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Mr Sada explained the project aimed at creating greater economic employment opportunities for the youth, women and returning migrants by promoting and supporting sustainable green businesses, under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa with Ꞓ20,600.00.
He mentioned SNV Netherlands Development Organisation's determination to strengthen capacities and catalyse partnerships that would result in sustainable impact in three sectors- agri-food, energy and water systems.
Realising that the youth held the keys to sustainable development but lacked the opportunities, Mr Sada said "we want to bridge this gap by using our flagship OYE programme which partners with public and private institutions to increase entrepreneurship and employability skills for youth job makers and job seekers.
