On Tuesday July 23, 2024, The Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) Josephine Lagu Yanga, held a meeting with Mr. Gershon Kedar, Ambassador of Israel to the Republic of South Sudan, along with dignitaries from other government agencies including the ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation. The purpose of the meeting was to announce the resumption of South Sudan’s participation in the agricultural internship program in Israel.
During the meeting the representative of the Agrostudies Internship program in Israel met with officials from the ministries relevant in the program including Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to discuss details of the internship program.
“This program this time around, will select students from Universities faculties of agriculture second and third year students in a program called learn and earn, an eleven-month program after which students expected to learn and return back to South Sudan. This is an excellent opportunity, it will enable our students to get exposure in agriculture production and it will enable them to gain a little bit of work experience”, said the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Hon. Josephine Lagu Yanga after the meeting, adding that the training will allow students to obtain not only essential agricultural knowledge, but also outstanding working experiences and skills that will benefit them to find work for themselves and contribute to the food security when they return to the nation.
The University of Juba has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Agrostudies International Center for Agricultural Interns in Israel that will be responsible for the program. It is a program with 20 years of relevant experience in such program and hundreds of students every year have benefited from the program. 10 student candidates have been interviewed this morning and will benefit from this pilot program” said Ambassador Gershon Kedar, Israel Ambassador to South Sudan who revealed that ten students from the University of Juba will benefit from the 2024-2025 academic year. allows students to obtain not only essential agricultural information, but also outstanding working experiences and skills that will help them find work when they return to the nation. The program is not limited to the ten students, it will benefit a bigger number of students in the future. According to him the academic year 2024-2025 will be a pilot program for South Sudan with the program taking a bigger number of students in future academic years.