Boost For Cocoa Production
The Ministry of Agriculture is collaborating with COCOBOD to implement policies that will promote commercialization of research on the utilization of substandard cocoa and cocoa wastes to enhance value addition.
According to Clement Eledi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, the move is part of government's effort to boost agribusiness and the agro-processing industry which is of enormous significance to the country's development.
The Deputy Minister announced this when he met a South African, Trade and Investment mission in Accra yesterday.
Agriculture contributes about 40 percent to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and most analysts believe lifting it will help accelerate Ghana's development at a rapid pace.
“Agribusiness and agro-processing industry is of huge importance to Ghana's development because of the vital linkages and synergies that it promotes in the economy between agriculture, industry and commerce”.
Mr. Eledi added that promotion and development of agribusiness will contribute to the national and agricultural sector objectives of increased incomes and poverty reduction.
“The agribusiness approach to farming can help change attitudes of operators to make farming lucrative.
“Agro processing also provides the opportunity for transforming primary agricultural products into other commodities.”
This will enhance Ghana's quest of establishing a Commodities Trading Exchange soon.
At the moment, the National Resource Institute (NRI) of the Greenwich University in the United Kingdom is conducting studies into the possibility of establishing a commodities exchange for soft or agriculture commodities, CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE gathered.
NRI has been tasked by the Securities and Exchange Commission, regulator of the capital market to draw a comprehensive business plan for the exchange by the next three months.
Disclosing a number of issues to address challenges facing the sector in terms of low productivity and technology, the Deputy Minister mentioned focus on selected commodities for food security, mechanization of agriculture from land preparation to product processing and value chain concept as the number of actions to help address these challenges.
Others include meeting the challenge of quality standards, promotion of public/private partnerships and improved coordination and harmonization.
Under livestock development, the strategies will help improve access to quality feed and water, develop commercial poultry and diary as the priority for improving meat and milk supply in the short term.
Under crop development, the objectives in the medium term are to increase the availability of improved planting material, improved adoption of improved agronomic practices and expand average from size per holder.
These initiatives come on the heels of recent food crisis that hit the global economy.
By Charles Nixon Yeboah