Israeli non-profit drives agricultural cooperation in Chad

Tel Aviv [Israel], August 21 (ANI/TPS): A Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael/Jewish National Fund delegation on Sunday completed a mission to Chad to exchange agricultural knowledge and know-how, specifically on date cultivation.
The Israeli experts worked in both Amdjarass and N’Djamena toward strengthening collaborative efforts between Israel and Chad, while helping both countries advance in areas of sustainability and de-desertification.
“I am proud to represent KKL-JNF and continue to promote the cooperation with Chad. We are excited to visit our colleagues abroad, to get to know Chad’s culture and communities, learn about the forestry and agricultural techniques used in the country, and of course, share our knowledge and technologies,” said Asaf Karavani, director of the forest management and monitoring department in KKL-JNF, who led the delegation.
Amnon Greenberg, an Israeli expert at Southern Arava R&D and chairman of the Date Round Table at Israel’s Plants, Production and Marketing Board, said ahead of the visit, “I have no doubt that the partnerships we have created will help many around the world to produce high-quality and healthy food, alongside dealing with the climate crisis. We embark on this special visit with great excitement and with the expectation of returning to Israel with insights we will gain and hopefully optional projects moving forward.”
The KKL-JNF is a non-profit organization originally founded in 1901 to purchase land for Jewish communities. Since then, KKL-JNF has planted millions of trees, built dams and reservoirs, established around 1,000 parks and developed hundreds of thousands of acres of land.
Israeli-African relations have received an indirect boost from the Abraham accords, which Israel signed with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco in 2020 and Sudan in 2021.
Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dedicated the Embassy of the Republic of Chad together with the president of Chad, Mahamat Déby.
“Israel and Chad established relations between our two countries with your late father. It is in our view a tremendously important relationship with a major country in the heart of Africa,” Netanyahu told the visiting leader at the time.
“It is something that we want to carry to new levels, new heights, and your visit here in Israel and the opening of the embassy is a reflection of that.
“We believe that our cooperation can help not only advance our relations but it is also part of Israel’s coming back to Africa and Africa coming back to Israel. We have common goals of security, prosperity and stability,” he added.
In January 2019, Netanyahu and the previous Chadian president, Idriss Déby, agreed on the resumption of diplomatic relations at a ceremony in N’Djamena. Chad had severed ties with Israel in 1972 due to pressure from Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi. (ANI/TPS)