An agribusiness expert and an Aggregator, Madam Lisa Offei, from Akwadum in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District, has disclosed that Ghana needs many agribusiness incubators to reduce poverty and drive economic growth.
Agribusiness incubators play a pivotal role in the ideation, start-up, and scaling-up of agricultural businesses and small to medium enterprises (SMEs). But Ghana’s agribusiness incubation ecosystems remain underdeveloped, and incubators face various challenges, limiting their scale and impact.
Speaking to the Vaultz News, Madam Offei said the agriculture sector in Ghana has immense opportunities. She further noted that creating the space for skills development, funding, and capacity building for entrepreneurs, especially, would help the sector boom.
“Ghana lacks concrete agribusiness incubation policies and support frameworks which is disheartening. In Ghana, agribusiness incubators have the potential to reduce poverty and drive economic growth and incubation has emerged as a successful mechanism for launching new enterprises by creating an environment where start-ups can be nurtured and allowed to grow.”
Madam Lisa Offei
Gov’t should set up an agribusiness incubator in every capital city
According to a World Bank report, Africa now earns an average of 24% of its annual revenues from its farmers and crops. The report projected that if public and private sectors work together to link farmers with consumers in what the report referred to as “an increasingly urbanized Africa,” agriculture in Africa will likely be worth US$1 trillion by 2030.
“Setting up a lot of agribusiness incubators in every capital city in Ghana would help unlock the potential of agriculture to drive economic growth and reduce poverty in Ghana and Africa at large.
“If we can learn from the diverse knowledge and good practices within and outside Africa and strengthen networking and collaboration among the different actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. I am confident that we will be able to transform the lives of Ghanaian entrepreneurs and small to medium enterprises.”
Madam Lisa Offei
Agribusiness incubators play an essential role in developing the technology and value chains that let small agricultural businesses thrive in developing countries and emerging markets.
Sustaining agribusiness incubators encourages youth participation in agriculture
Incubators are, therefore, a key contributor to these economies, boosting prosperity and reducing poverty, and there is increased interest in supporting interventions aimed at accelerating or incubating agribusinesses. Incubators and accelerators are mechanisms that help small and growing businesses (SGBs) grow and expand.
In the agricultural sector, the African Agribusiness Incubation Network (AAIN) and the Global African Agribusiness Accelerator Platform (GAAAP) are two emerging resource institutions promoting the development of incubation and acceleration programmes for agriculture or agribusiness-focused enterprises across the food value chain.
In Ghana, for instance, agribusiness incubators such as the Kosmos Innovation Center is poised to support Ghanaians youth in agribusiness. The key outcomes that these incubators yield are sustainable jobs, and prime beneficiaries in this regard are governments.
Establishing, sustaining, and improving the capabilities of agribusiness incubators is key to encouraging more youth participation in agriculture.
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