Private agribusiness consulting firm with experience in agricultural advisory services and the provision of support to agriculture and agribusiness in Ghana, Agri-Impact Consult (AIC), has organized a two-day training programme on Business Development Skills with focus on Marketing and Financial Management for Farmers and aggregators in Ghana.
The programme aimed at building the capacity of vegetable farmers and aggregators with the skills needed to supply quality produce to meet the demanding domestic, regional and overseas Market, brought together stakeholders in the value chain.
The Executive Director of Agri-Impact Consult, Dan Acquaye, bemoaned the situation where the country spent millions of cedis to import vegetables when our local farmers are capable of producing enough for our country and export to other West African countries.
He cited the instance where the country imports Green beans and lettuce with a gestation period of only six weeks. Presently, Ghana imports 60 million dollars worth of onions annually; a situation that can be reversed to create jobs for 10,000 youth, earning 6000-dollar income annually.
He explained that the horticultural sector has the potential to create jobs for the youth of the country and urged government to focus on providing the necessary logistics to make the sector attractive.
Presently, Ghana is the second highest importer of Tomato Paste in the world after Germany whiles Tomato factories in the country do not get enough raw materials to process.
Certificates were awarded to participants; some of who expressed excitement on the knowledge acquired and gave assurance of their readiness to apply the acquired skills in their line of duty.
