Niger Minister meets India’s senior agriculture officials

(L-R): Mr Ravi Prakash, Deputy Secretary, Protocol, International Cooperation and International Relations, DARE; Dr J Mishra, ADG-IT, ICAR; Dr A Arunachalam, ADG, International Relations, ICAR; Mr Sushil Kumar, Additional Secretary, DARE and Secretary, ICAR; Mr Ibrahima Guimba-Saïdou; Dr Peter Carberry, Director General, ICRISAT; Dr A K Padhee, Director Country Relations, ICRISAT and Mr Boureima Souleymane, Counsellor, Embassy of the Republic of Niger to India. Photo: ICAR/DARE

To strengthen ties between Niger and India in areas of agriculture, Mr Ibrahima Guimba-Saïdou, Minister – Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Niger, recently met representatives of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in New Delhi.

Mr Saïdou, who is also the CEO of Niger’s National Agency for Information Society, met Mr Sushil Kumar, Additional Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Secretary, ICAR, along with senior officials from the two countries.

Dr Peter Carberry, Director General, ICRISAT, and Dr Arvind Padhee, Director Country Relations, ICRISAT, were also present in the meetings. Mr Saïdou’s visit to India, following an invitation from Dr Carberry, saw knowledge exchange between the two countries in areas of research and development in dryland agriculture. The minister also visited facilities for start-up incubation and innovation centers.

Besides meetings with Indian government representatives, Mr Saïdou also met CGIAR center heads, experts and agri-entrepreneurs. Potential for south-South collaboration to strengthen Africa-India connections were explored.