Horticulture Field Visit to Kumasi

28-04-2023

Horticulture Field Visit to Kumasi

International Trade Centre, in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy and GNBCC organized a three days visit to Kumasi  with a group of tech-enabling service providers. The objective was to give the tech-enable firms an opportunity to engage with farmers and horticulture sector players in the region; get to understand their challenges and ways to better address these challenges using available technologies. The trip took place from the 19th to the 21st of April, 2023. The tech-enabling firms that were on the trip included WamiAgro, Sustainable Energy Technologies, AkoFresh, GrowForMe, SabonSake, Esoko, AgroInnova, Think! Data Services, Farmerline, Motito, Talentbox, EITSEC, RavenIT and BigData.

19-04-2023  Avisit to Kwadaso Agricultural College

The first field visit was to the Kwadaso Agriculture College where the principal and the teachers in the school shared with the group the content of their training and the kind of collaborations they are always looking for with the delegation. Among the key observations which they shared was that: As an institution, they are open to working with industry players to help develop a teaching and learning curriculum that is practical and provides value to the business sector. They had a compulsory field practical sessions and intern-ship programmes. They will be interested in partnering with the delegation on the trip to have job placement for their students especially in agricultural related roles.

20-04-2023 - Visit to Toase - Atwima Nwabiagya Ginger Farmers Association

Some ginger farmers meet with the team and shared their challenges with the group. A key among their challenges was access to finance. Whiles they admitted their need for farm inputs such as fertilizer, boots and other machinery to advance their work. Their continue to request money because they think that, they need money to invest in their farms especially when it comes to transporting their product, getting farm labour and the general work that is involved in ginger farming. They also indicated that access to market  is a major problem for them. The group shared with the farmers, the technologies they have available that can help provide them with farm inputs, access to the market and farm management knowledge. In general, the Ginger farmers farm produce vegetables such as pepper, okra, cocoa and other cash crops. These crops enable them to sustain their families. Some depend on loans and some also involve in pretty trading to enable them to make ends meet. Some of the farmers want to know how to increase their yield so that, they do not have to change their farms every season before they can make a good yield.

20-04-2023 - A visit to Boamang-Afigya Kwabre Pineapple Farmers

We had a visit the district office at Boamang and then proceeded to visit a local pineapple farm. They explained to us the key challenges when it comes to Pineapple production. It was mainly farm input challenges. It cost a lot to bring in the pineapple suckers from down south to Kumasi. They mostly use traditional methods in planting and harvesting their pineapple. They are happy to keep in touch with us to explore opportunities for future engagement.

20-04-2023 - A visit to Agri Sustainable Greenhouses. Akumadan Greenhouse village

This facility has 16 greenhouses and they are managed by Agri Sustainable Ghana. This is a government facility and it serves as a training Centre for students from selected regions across the country. The facility currently has 500 square feet of paper, cucumber and other vegetables. They grow some for the local market. The key challenges with these greenhouse farms are the pesticides and temperature in the greenhouse.  It takes 5 to 10 people to manage a facility.

21-04-2023 - Visit to Bodukwan Multifruits Processing Company

The visit led to use meeting with the CEO Mr Joe Kwame who gave us a background of the Bodukwan Farms, Processing and Juice Factory.  They currently provide a lot of support to farmers to do the growing for them. They are working with the youth, LEAP families and other deprived villages to ensure that they get the input to do the farming and processing material for their factories. The current challenge they have now is Raw materials to feed their processing machines in full capacity.

21-04-2023 - Visit to the Peace and Love Vegetable Growers Association.

We also meet with the Peace and Love Vegetable growers association and the key challenges they outline include high-cost input for their vegetable growing, lack of very simple and manual machinery for their work, and lack of the needed market for their products at the end of the session. Most of them practically give out their vegetables at very low prices to the market women.  They are calling for a more sustainable way to have access to Agro input for their farming activities. They are looking for ways to access the international market. They currently see their produces individuals, they have no savings or pension schemes and they are their future is not secured. They have partnered with other groups and they are looking for opportunities to better their lives through farming.

 

GNBCC | News