By
Gideon D. Ebbah, GNA
Kumawu (Ash), Aug
28, GNA – Professor Yaw Nyarko, Director of the New York University Center for
Technology and Economic Development (CTED), has called on the government to
prioritize investments in markets for agricultural products in order to enhance
and sustain commodity exchanges in the agricultural value chain.
He said greater
investments in facilities such as warehouses, would not only help reduce
postharvest loses, especially of smallholder farmers, but would also help them
to access and meet market demands of their produce for both the local and
international markets.
Professor Nyarko who
is also the Executive Director of Africa House Conference at Kumawu, in the
Sekyere-Kumawu District, was speaking at a multi-stakeholder engagement forum
organized by CTED, at Kumawu.
It was attended by
officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, traditional rulers, the
International Growth Centre (IGC) of the London School of Economics,
International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, the Ghana Commodity
Exchange (GCX), Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the district assembly and
farmers.
The aim was to
assess and empower smallholder farmers for effective and efficient utilization
of markets for agricultural produce, particularly in the rural Sub-Saharan
Africa.
Professor Nyarko pointed
out that, facilities such as agricultural warehouses would not only facilitate
storage but would also serve as a source of marketing and trading area of
agricultural products to reduce the daily struggles farmers had to go through
to access markets and good prices for their products, while at the same time
ensuring quality assurance and control for the consumers.
Again, he said it
was necessary for the government to build the capacities of farmers to empower
them to take advantage of cross border agricultural trade opportunities and its
benefits, especially in the ECOWAS, sub-region and Africa as a whole.
Professor Nyarko
praised government for the establishment of the Ghana Commodity Exchange,
adding that it was a rightful investment which required deepening and expansion
of investments, especially in research and technology, which were a necessity
in marketing of agricultural products.
Mr. Robert
Ahomka-Lindsay, Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, reiterated government’s
commitment to prioritizing industrialization in the agricultural value chain,
as part of efforts to achieve the Ghana beyond aid agenda.
He said the Planting
for Food and Jobs (PFJ), Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) and
the Special Rice Initiative were all geared towards utilizing the economic
impact of agriculture and meeting the agricultural raw materials demand of
processing industries in the sector.
Dr James Dzansi, the
Country Economist at the IGC in-charge of Energy and Firms, said investment in
the markets for agricultural outputs would enhance the thriving of small and
medium scale businesses, while improving the socio-economic status of rural
farmers.
Dr. Kadri Alfah,
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX), said the
existence of the GCX was helping the cross border marketing of agricultural
products from the country.
GNA
