In May 2011, a team comprising of chairman and members of the Parliamentary select committee on agriculture and cocoa affairs, policy analysts from the Policy Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation Division at MoFA, technical staff from MoFA, farmers, agribusiness persons, and scientists were taken on a study tour of India. The team met with parliamentarians, scientists, and policy analysts. They also visited research institutions and interacted with private companies engaged in seed production, value chain development, fertilizer granulation, tissue culture and the manufacture of organic fertilizers.
Following up on the study tour and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s interest in collaborative projects with Ghana using India/Africa funds, a program will be developed for both public and private sector initiatives. GSSP will help the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and MoFA to develop proposals on horticultural research (CSIR) and improving agricultural education at Kwadaso Agriculture College (MoFA) that will be submitted to ICAR for future collaboration with them. GSSP will provide technical assistance, but the proposals will be submitted by the Government of Ghana and CSIR and MoFA will then work directly with ICAR on the proposed collaboration that developed from the study tour. In addition, we will examine the potential for developing an organic fertilizer value chain, horticultural development, agricultural education, as well as other topics raised during the study tour.