The Netherlands has declared intentions to invest about 4 million euros in Ghana’s agriculture sector in an effort to strengthen economic resilience.
They claim that this endeavor is a component of their plan to improve their bilateral and economic ties with Ghana.
The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, H.E. Mrs. Lieje Schreinemacher, pledged to deepen economic ties with Ghana during a speech on the sidelines of the Adenta Community Garden and Opening of the Fruits and Vegetables Fair, which took place at Adenta Frafraha Community School on May 22, 2024.
She said, “The amount we invest in Ghana right now is 20 million euros and out of that we hope to invest specifically 4 million euros in agriculture. And this is to ensure that local farmers make sure that they work sustainably and also that it is scalable and also need to work to achieve food security and we as the Netherlands want to help you achieve this.”
As for the issues with supply and demand in the horticulture sector, IDH lead Robert Asugre said that the organization is now working with stakeholders to identify ways to increase productivity.
He continued by saying that his organization’s collaboration with the Dutch government aims to create chances for participants in the horticultural industry to prosper.
“The market is there; I mean the demand for these vegetables is very high just that we don’t have enough production to meet the demands. And so, there is a big gap in demand and supply situation and that is what this partnership seeks to address. We are working with producers and market to design optic planning and sourcing roadmap for us to be able to supply to the market locally and internationally.”
The Fruits and Vegetable Fair is an initiative of the Horticultural Business Platform (HBP) in collaboration with its partners aimed at bringing together local producers and allowing them access to a greater range of wholesalers and retailers.
About twenty-five fruit and vegetable merchants used the fair as a venue to display and sell their goods and services to the general public.
However, in an interview with Citi News, HBP Coordinator Barnabas Apom discussed intentions to extend the program to further areas in order to assist horticulture-related businesses.
He said, “We have decided to bring these people together businesses in the horticulture industry from the smallest to the biggest and our objective is to drive their activities based on their interests. The first one is most of the business want to expand but they don’t have money. There are a lot of people who are also looking for market for their products and other things so that is why we decided to do this, and we hope to scale this to other regions.”
