The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana (CAG) is urging investors in the Agricultural Value Chain to leverage on investment opportunities that exist in the seed cultivation sector to spur growth in the industry.
Although the Chamber laments the instances of importation of seeds into the country, it maintains that the economic viability of the sector can be activated to rake in more revenue for players.
These comments were made by the Chief Executive of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, Anthony Morrison in a business networking forum in Accra.
“Let me say that Ghana imports about 90% of the seeds we use for vegetable production. And our seed industry is one of the most vibrant ones but lately, due to delayed payments for indigenous seed producers and seed multipliers, so we need a seed trader to breed the seeds.
“So if we go to West Africa Center for Crop Improvement, we see experts who have been trained in seed breeding. These are the scientists. So you need the seed scientists, who will give you high breed seeds, then, you give it to the business people. The business people now multiply the seeds and now sell it as a seed to the farmers. The farmers now reproduce your food. There is enormous potential.”
Anthony Morrison
According to Mr. Morrison, most of the seeds used for grains and cereals, luckily for the country comprises of rice seed called AGRA, which is being used predominantly in the North and JUSTIN, which is used preliminary in the South.
“So there has been a number of things done when it comes to seed cultivation. So that sector also promises to be an area where we can invest in.”
Anthony Morrison
Food wastage is a major concern on Ghana’s Agricultural desk with rising discussions on how to address it.
Denmark calls for stronger partnership with Ghanaian businesses to solve food wastage
Tom Nørring, Denmark Ambassador to Ghana made a call out to Ghanaian businesses to develop strong partnerships with the Danish in order to find feasible solutions to the food wastage recorded in the country.
According to Mr. Nørring, Ghana loses about 50% of its food harvest to wastage. This development he believes can be mitigated, if the major actors in the country’s agricultural value chain consider the gaps in its surpluses as investment opportunities.
The Danish Ambassador to Ghana in an address to the various stakeholders of Ghana’s agricultural value chain during a food security seminar organized by the Danish Embassy in Ghana, disclosed that, Ghana loses over 16 million dollars to post harvest losses for some selected food crops.
“In early 2020, the Embassy commissioned a feasibility study with the aim of assessing the volumes of food loss and importantly, identifying the potential value if we instead take that loss and turn it into a gain. In essence, the study looked at the business case of investing in solutions to combat food loss for a number of value chains in fruits and vegetables.
“The study showed that there are intriguing business cases for farmers, producers, investors and stakeholders in the value chain if we apply the right solutions to reduce food loss and instead turn this loss into value.”
Tom Nørring
Standing on the foundation of the feasibility study and all the interactions since 2020, therefore, Mr. Nørring mentioned establishing partnerships between Danish and Ghanaian businesses to tap into all the corners of the food cluster. This partnerships, he added are intended to tackle the problem of food loss but would be done based on sustainable business models that make the partnerships a win-win for all involved.
The Danish Ambassador to Ghana further highlighted the volumes of loss and possible revenue in Ghana’s food value chain.
“As an example, we can look at the area of Ashaiman. Here, the report assesses that the value of post-harvest food loss for mango, yam, plantain, garden eggs, tomatoes alone are valued at $16 million annually. An investment in solar-powered cold storage for these value chains will result in revenue of over $ 2million for solution providers, while providing additional revenue to traders worth over $8 million.”
Tom Nørring
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