The Vice President of the Swiss Council, Simonetta Sommaruga, has described as “a way for the future” the vegetal, animal production and post-harvest training offered youths at the Obala Agricultural Institute.

She said professional training to people who are the future of an economy and in a sector with potentials like agriculture offers brighter prospects for a country like Cameroon engaged in wide-ranging projects with agriculture as a catalyst to emergence.

Mrs Simonetta Sommaruga was speaking yesterday September 28, 2014 on the campus of the agricultural institute in Lekie Division of the Centre Region as she went visiting to appraise the professional training modules of the institute largely supported by the government of Switzerland within the framework of the Swiss-Cameroon cooperation.

“What I saw here is something very important because young people are gaining education, they can learn something and they have a profession to produce something that we can eat.

This is very important for the country as well given that they are learning how to create new employment and this is very important for young people. This kind of cooperation is for the interest of both countries,” she said.

Like the Director of the school, Ndjie Louis, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER), Essimi Menye, praised the excellent cooperation ties existing between the two countries.

They both agreed that although qualified agricultural technicians are being trained in the school, ensuring value addition to what they produce and getting financial support to set up sustainable agricultural enterprises still remain daunting challenges.

The award of attestations to graduating students, exchange of gifts between Simonetta Sommaruga and Essimi Menye and working sessions, especially with future rural agricultural entrepreneurs back from training in Israel, spiced the colourful ceremony.