Up to 100,000 smallholder farmers across the country will benefit from an agribusiness project which aims to address persistent high post-harvest losses in the agricultural sector.

Dubbed “Agribusiness for Youth Employment Project (AgYE)”, the project seeks to improve the livelihoods and incomes of the 100,000 beneficiary farmers by addressing high post-harvest losses in rice, maize, soybean, tomato, onion and pepper in 11 out of the 16 regions of the country.

With the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Mastercard Foundation as the main implementers, the project will allow local farmers to access affordable post-harvest equipment via entrepreneurial youth operating as qualified mechanisation and equipment service providers within a sustainable demand-driven framework based on the promotion of climate smart agriculture, market linkages and access to finance.

A stakeholder breakfast meeting as a result was held in Accra yesterday as part of the project to promote stakeholder coordination, create synergies and stimulate innovation to drive sustainable and scalable impact towards a successful implementation of the project.

A technical committee, including representatives from the Agricultural and Engineering Services Division, the various agricultural colleges, the National Service Scheme and the Food and Drugs Authority, was also inaugurated to work on the project.

The meeting, which was in partnership with the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL), was on the theme: “Transforming Agriculture Productivity in Ghana: Enhancing Incomes of Smallholder Farmers through Reduction in Post-Harvest Losses”.

Post-harvest losses

In Ghana, it is estimated that over $1.9 billion of foods produced are lost annually. This level of loss generates a significant negative impact on the 40 per cent of the country’s population, whose primary livelihood is derived from agriculture, while exacerbating the country’s food and nutrition insecurity, driving higher levels of import dependency and reduced resilience in the face of soaring global food issues.

Mode of operation

The WFP's Country Director, Barbara Clemens, explained that rather than working directly with individual farmers as in the past, the WFP had identified a more effective model to work through agricultural "aggregators" or "agro champions" who had established networks of smallholder farmers.

She added that the first criterion was for the beneficiaries to provide a proven network of smallholder farmers they were working with.

The WFP, she said, would provide those agro champions with technical support and post-harvest equipment to strengthen their ability to support the smallholder farmers in their networks.

Mrs Clemens further called on the government and key stakeholders to adopt innovative approaches and policies that looked beyond just agricultural production.

She emphasised the need to address the entire agricultural value chain, including aspects such as seed production, irrigation, fertilisation, growing, transport and storage, in order to reduce post-harvest losses.

The WFP Country Director, who stressed the importance of prioritising the purchasing of Ghanaian products within Ghana over foreign imports, added that establishing business development offices and aggressively marketing Ghanaian agricultural products beyond the country's borders could attract the youth into the agricultural sector. 

Commitment

The Managing Director of the GCGL, Ato Afful, said the company was committed to initiatives that promoted the growth and development of critical national ventures in the area of post-harvest losses.

“This is one of the most strategic and critical placeholders that we need to achieve as a people, with its impact on the livelihoods of the predominantly smallholder farmers, whose fortunes are linked to Ghana’s agricultural industry.

“As we work to improve yields per acreage, the subject of post-harvest losses is critical enough to engage the attention of the country and its development partners,” Mr Afful said.

He further stressed that the subject of post-harvest losses was critical enough to engage the attention of the country and its development partners.

He added that “we concede that if we do not deal with this challenge, the high investments in scaling up agricultural production and cultivation of even large mechanised farms will not guarantee us the self-sufficiency and security we envisage in agriculture”.

To ensure transformation in the sector, Mr Afful stressed the need for education on improved farming methods and practices, efficient and effective harvesting, adequate transportation channels from the farm gate to well-controlled storage facilities, and ultimately adding value by processing, packaging, distributing and marketing to ensure optimal value for producers in the entire agro-food chain.