Agrihouse Foundation is set to hold its 12th edition of the annual Pre-harvest Agribusiness Conference and Exhibitions in the Northern Region to engage businesses and actors along the agriculture value chain.

The three-day event is scheduled to take place from Tuesday, October 25, 2022, to Thursday, October 27, 2022, at the Aliu Mamaha Sports Stadium, in Tamale, whiles the practical training and demonstration sessions, will take place at the Agrihouse Agri-Village Training, Apprenticeship and Demonstration Centre, in Bamvim. The conference will be on the theme, “Connecting the unconnected: the farmer-the- buyer and the market.”

Annually, the event brings together over three thousand maize, rice, soya bean, sorghum, cowpea, groundnut, cashew, vegetables, livestock farmers, and value chain actors within the agricultural sector, to discuss the production demands, pricing, innovative approaches to boosting farm yields and introduce new Agric Technologies, for development and advancement. It also directly allows over 70 percent of participants, to take decisive and influential roles, in purchasing products, inputs, and equipment, through the exhibitions that run alongside, the three-day event.

Speaking ahead of this year’s 12th edition, the Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, noted the platform has generated an estimated $5 billion for agribusinesses and value chain actors in the last eleven years. She indicated that over three thousand participants were recorded last year; resulting in a fifteen percent increase in productivity among various farmer groups, and value chain actors who patronized the event.

Between 2017 to 2021, the four (4) key areas of the event; Exhibitions, Farmer-to-Buyer Matchmaking, Training, Capacity Building, and Field Demonstrations, have seen about a 25 to 75 percent increase in growth and sales among equipment and machinery dealers, financial institutions, ICT and telecommunication companies, she added.

Relationships With Aggregators

Farmer-based organizations have established relationships with aggregators, while agro-processors have purchased over 14,000 MT of soybean and 31,000 MT of maize from farmers. “In 2019, we recorded 70 business deals during the Exhibitions, which resulted in about GHS32, 420, 745, worth of sales, among input dealers, machinery, and equipment dealers,” she revealed.

This year, amidst the global challenges, the exhibitions are still expected to record a marginal increase. Last year recorded 118 exhibitors consisting of farmer groups, input, seed dealers, agric marketing experts, and financial institutions. Others included aggregators, brand specialists, transporters, equipment and machinery companies, processing and packaging companies, development and donor partners, corporate institutions, civil society, and government agencies.

The pre-harvest activity line-up has also increased to include the farmer-to-farmer apprenticeship session, which is specifically designed as a Technical and practical, further learning opportunity; where experienced field representatives will run demonstrative training sessions for farmers, farmer groups, including PWDs and other women-led groups.

“Through this new module, we are anticipating that both local and commercial farmers will develop and strengthen their capacities, to practically embrace and manage machines, equipment and agri farm inputs that will enhance their productivity and market growth.”
Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa

The West Africa Regional Director of Yara International, solutions, Mr. Danquah Addo-Yobo said, Yara had rolled out a number of digital tools and innovative systems this year, which would be shared with participants as part of the training and capacity-building sessions they will be leading.