Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao today called for strengthening co-operation between the state and African countries in sectors like food processing, human resource development, tourism, higher education and cultural exchange.
He was speaking after inaugurating the eighth edition of 'I for Afrika' -- a four-day mega business event being held here.
"Africa has 60 per cent of the arable land in the world but produces 10 per cent of the global food output. Likewise, India has traditionally been an agricultural country with over sixty per cent people depending on agriculture for their livelihood," Rao said.
The Governor said Maharashtra is a leader in horticulture, dairy and fisheries and home to four agriculture universities and one university for animal sciences, dairy and fisheries.
"I think India and Africa can work closely in knowledge and technology sharing in agriculture while also focusing on post-harvest processing and supply chain," he said.
Rao also said India has had a long and deep connection with Africa with the people of Indian origin living and working in that continent and doing business there for centuries.
"Indians are therefore familiar with Africa and can become natural partners in progress and development," he said.
"Africa is a treasure of tourism. India has a growing upper-middle class. This group is exploring the world like never before. We often say that gone are the days when the world spoke of communism, socialism and other 'isms'. Today the only 'ism' that matters is tourism. Tourism can prove mutually rewarding for India and Africa," he said.
Rao said that India and Africa have common challenges like food security, energy security, terrorism and climate change.
"It is necessary that we should have cooperative mechanisms for exchange of views, consultation and for working out common strategies for addressing these pressing issues," he said.
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