ISLAMABAD, FEB 19 /DNA/ – COMSTECH, ICESCO and Songhai Center, in Benin jointly organized 5-day international training workshop on innovative practices for the development of a sustainable agri-business for the future at Songhai Center in Porto-Novo the capital city of Benin.

H.E. Mr. Gaston Cossi Dossouhoui, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, H.E. Mr. José Didier Tonato Minister of Living Environment and Sustainable Development, H.E. Mayor Oumar Ba, President AMS/CCT-UMOA, Dr. M. Sharif, Advisor, Science and Technology, ICESCO, Dr. Salimane Karimou, President, National Commission in Benin, and H. E. Prof. Dr. Godfrey Nzamujo, Director General Songhai Center addressed the inaugural session held on Monday.

Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator General COMSTECH said that the idea of organizing this field based, hands on training course was discussed in Niamey Niger where he had the honor of hosting legendary Prof. Dr. Godfrey. He readily agreed, and now we are pleased that we have plan to take “Songhai Phenomena” to other OIC member states. He said that we consider Songhai a miracle, an unparalleled story of human perseverance, dedication, and intellect.

Prof. Choudhary informed that this training workshop has participation from over 10 OIC member states with physical participants from Benin, Togo, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Chad, and we also have virtual participants from Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Turkey, Togo, Mali, Cameroon, and Chad.

He said that this training will address the challenges in achieving food security through sharing of knowledge and experiences, application of science, technology and climate smart agricultural technologies.

He said that this innovative workshop is planned to build broad-based and sustainable solutions to the challenges of our present food and agricultural systems and make participants discover a holistic vision of the world that is foundational to the SDGs. He said that the participants will be able to discover that how Songhai was able to envision and build a regenerative agriculture and agro-ecological development system.

Prof. Choudhary highlighted the COMSTECH initiatives, and announced new initiatives for African countries in collaboration with ICESCO and Songhai Center.

Prof. Dr. Godfrey Nzamujo welcomed the participants of the International training workshop and emphasized the need of the human capacity building in the fields of science and technology for achieving financial and economic goals. The director ICESCO said that we are committed to build capacity of OIC member states in the fields of science and technology for the socio-economic development. He said that the development of the workforce is vital for development.