Umar A Namadi FCA Executive Governor of Jigawa State Nigeria accompanied by Muttaqa Namadi Hon Commissioner Ministry of Agriculture and other senior officials from the Federal Republic of Nigeria visited NDDB Anand on May The delegation led by the Governor met Dr Meenesh Shah Chairman NDDB to explore dairy sector collaboration with Jigawa The Chairman outlined NDDBs role in Indias dairy selfsufficiency and key measures like artificial insemination highmerit bulls and manure management The Governor sought NDDBs support for Jigawas cooperative dairy sector and AIbreeding activities the Chairman agreed to send a multidisciplinary NDDBAmul team The delegation toured Parikrama exhibition GCMMF DairyAmul OPUIVEP Genomics Lab Fodder Unit and IDMC Ltd interacting with stakeholders

An international delegation from India organized by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry PHDCCI under the aegis of the Ministry of Cooperation visited the Netherlands from th to th July to explore innovative models in agriculture food processing cooperative governance finance and trade facilitation The delegation comprised cooperative leaders entrepreneurs agricultural experts and government officials aiming to strengthen and modernize Indias cooperative ecosystem Key members included senior officials from the Ministry of Cooperation Shri Siddharth Jain IAS Joint Secretary Shri Kumar Ram Krishna Director and Shri Rohit Gupta Deputy Managing Director NCDC along with representatives from IFFCO Navankur and Hindustan Agriculture Legacy Food Products The PHDCCI was represented by Dr Jatinder Singh Deputy Secretary General and Shri Rupesh K Pandey Senior Secretary During the visit the delegation engaged with leading Dutch institutions and enterprises to gather insights supporting Indias vision for a resilient digitally enabled and sustainable cooperative movement aligned with the Governments Sahkar se Samriddhi initiative The Netherlands was chosen for its global leadership in cooperative models precision agriculture and sustainable food systems that effectively integrate technology with traditional farming and marketing practices The visit aimed to facilitate strategic discussions on scalable practices and explore potential collaborations between India and the Netherlands in cooperative development

The Executive Committee Meeting of the Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific NEDAC was held on November in Colombo Sri Lanka The meeting brought together senior representatives from leading cooperative institutions across the AsiaPacific region It commenced with a welcome address by Mr Pankaj Kumar Bansal Chairman NEDAC and Additional Secretary Ministry of Cooperation Government of India underscoring the importance of regional cooperation among agricultural cooperatives in addressing developmental and climaterelated challenges The Committee reviewed ongoing programmes deliberated on strategic priorities and strengthened collaboration to promote sustainable agricultural and rural development The event coincided with the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives IYC In partnership with the International Cooperative AllianceAsia and Pacific ICAAP NEDAC organised knowledgeexchange sessions emphasizing the transformative role of cooperatives in rural prosperity food security and inclusive economic growth Additionally as part of IYC celebrations NEDAC and ICAAP conducted a seminar on Furthering Climate Resilient Smart and Sustainable Agriculture through Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific which brought together experts and policymakers to discuss innovative climatesmart and cooperativeled resilience models

The ICBA of ICA with the support of the NCC Warsaw Poland organized the IYC Culmination Ceremony on December at the CooperativesOwned Hotel Gromada Centrum Warsaw Poland The event witnessed participation from about delegates representing various countries including Cyprus India Cameroon and Hungary Three Senators the Minister of State for Finance Housing and other toplevel senior cooperators graced the occasion Bhima President of ICBA and Managing DirectorCEO of NAFSCOB delivered the keynote address followed by interventions from other distinguished speakers A panel discussion on the Relevance of Cooperative Principles was also organized in which Bhima served as one of the main speakers and panelists The General Assembly of NCC was convened alongside the event ICBA will conduct its Board Meeting and a visit to a cooperative bank on December

Shri Bhima Subrahmanyam President of the International Cooperative Banking Association ICBA and Managing Director CEO of NAFSCOB participated in the celebration of the United Nations declared International Year of Cooperatives along with other delegates at the joint event of the ICA General Assembly and ICBA Board Meetings held from to July in Manchester United Kingdom The event brought together participants representing the Banking and Credit sector The th Regional Assembly and th Cooperative Forum of the International Cooperative Alliance ICA Asia Pacific was held on at Colombo Sri Lanka with the participation of around delegates from member countries The forum provided a platform for sharing experiences best practices and policy perspectives on cooperative development The deliberations and outcomes of the event are expected to facilitate and encourage the organization of similar cooperative forums and capacitybuilding initiatives across the country

The International Programme on Business Development Plan for Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society was held from th to th December at VAMNICOM in Pune India organized by CICTAB under CICTABMoCVAMNICOM as an internationallevel event A total of participants attended from SKBBL Nepal and NCUI India The programme aimed to provide administration skills human resources and technological innovations in cooperatives prepare business plans for farm and nonfarm credit requirements identify potentials in agriculture and rural financing by integrating farmers into marketdriven plans with capacity building and technology transfer and sensitize participants on transitioning Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies into singlewindow service providers through sustainable business development plans yielding outcomes such as understanding value chain competitiveness and risks leveraging cohesive chains for finance access applying financial products to value chain actors linking infrastructure to markets advocating policy reforms designing marketdriven agri projects and identifying infrastructure models for marginalized groups

The International Programme on Innovation and Application of Financial Technology in Rural Financial Institutions was held from September at VAMNICOM in Pune India organized by CICTAB under CICTABMoCVAMNICOM as an internationallevel event participants from NCC Sri Lanka NEFSCUN Nepal NCBL Nepal NRB Nepal NABARD India IFFCO India NCUI India Mauritius and Zambia had participated The programme aimed to discuss the role of financial technology in enhancing business performance of cooperatives and rural financing institutions create awareness of its needs and implementation and brief latest developments in financial technology

The International Training Programme on Renewable Energy Management for Cooperatives and Rural Financing Institutions was held from nd to th July at VAMNICOM in Pune India organized by CICTAB under CICTABMoCVAMNICOM as an internationallevel event participants from Indian institutions including NCUI and NFSCF as well as Sri Lankas SANASA Federation and Nepals NCBL had participated The programme sought to create awareness of renewable energy sources and energysaving methods highlight Ministry of New and Renewable Energy initiatives on improved cook stoves and biogas and promote alternative energy devices such as biogas and solar lanterns or street lighting achieving outcomes including updated knowledge on current technologies and wastetoenergy advances understanding of waste sources and management familiarity with conversion technologies awareness of health and environmental impacts and insights into commercial aspects of wastetoenergy solutions

The International Programme on Agri Value Chain Financing themed Agri Value Chain Financing was held from June at VAMNICOM in Pune India organized by CICTAB under CICTABMoCVAMNICOM as an internationallevel event It gathered participants from Indian institutions including IFFCO NIBM NCUI NAFCARD NAFED and NAFSCOB as well as Nepal institutions such as NRB NCBL and SKBBL representing SAARC member countries The programme aimed to create awareness of agri value chain financing improve risk assessment skills in lending equip bank officers to manage agricultural lending risks and elucidate value chain analysis concepts tools and techniques yielding outcomes such as understanding value chain competitiveness and risks leveraging cohesive chains for finance access applying financial products to value chain actors linking infrastructure to markets advocating policy reforms designing marketdriven projects and identifying infrastructure models for marginalized groups

The International Conference themed Unleashing Prosperity through Cooperatives Digital Innovation and Value Chains was held from February at VAMNICOM in Pune India organized by CICTAB under CICTABMoCVAMNICOM as an internationallevel event It brought together participants from Sri Lanka Gambia Kenya Namibia Mauritius Zambia Liberia Nepal Bangladesh Bhutan Lao PDR and India The conference addressed objectives including fostering digital transformation via AI blockchain fintech and governance strengthening value chains advancing policy innovations promoting knowledge exchange supporting sustainable growth with green initiatives and inclusivity and leveraging the International Year of Cooperatives for SDGs achieving outcomes such as enhanced digital tool understanding case study insights sustainable practices strengthened networks and actionable governance strategies

Umar A Namadi FCA Executive Governor of Jigawa State accompanied by officials from the Federal Republic of Nigeria met Shri Jayen Mehta Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd GCMMF Amul in Anand on May The delegation was presented with the Amul model of dairy development which highlights its transformative impact on millions of farmers lives and Indias journey to becoming the worlds largest milk producer