Namakkal: For the first time, a team of 13 persons from eight African countries came to India for a two-week international training programme on small hold livestock and commercial poultry farming that concluded on Sunday. Assistant Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr. V. Venkatasubramanian told The Hindu that the programme was organised under the Indo-African Forum Summit that includes technology know how's, human resource development and resource sharing of men and materials. He said that the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Namakkal was the first among 589 KVKs in the country to host a programme on poultry and animal husbandry for an international delegation. According to him, the climate and topography of Africa was more like India while problems such as shrinking land, water, forest, animal, and human resource shortages were also similar in the two places, he said. The members said that they were awestruck by the practical low-cost methodologies implemented here and added that they were far ahead of practices followed in their homeland. Kodwo Ennin Fynn of Ghana (45) said that they were attracted by the alternative poultry farming industry and expressed confidence that his country would be greatly benefited if they followed the Namakkal methodologies. Wogenie Birhanie (35) of Ethiopia said that they were nominated by their respective governments to undergo the programme.