The agriculture sector in recent years has appreciated significantly with the introduction of agronomical practices, improved seeds, technology and many more, yet the sector has not been fully utilized.
To contribute to the realization of technological advancement in the sector, the WegVoraus in collaboration with Ghana-Indian Trade Advisory Chamber has launched AgriTech West Africa 2020 at the Ministry of Business Development conference room in Accra to provide a dynamic platform for Agribusiness community in Ghana and West Africa to count with global agritech suppliers and innovators.
The AgriTech West Africa 2020 is first of its kind to be held in West Africa on 9th – 11th June 2020 in Accra, Ghana.
At the press launch, the Director of AgriTech West Africa, Thomas James opined that the programme would succour Ghana and other West African countries to give the leverage to compete globally in terms of technology usage and value addition to agriculture products.
He mentioned that the programme would usher great business opportunities among exhibitors and the general public as the programme would converge investors across countries in the value chain at Accra.
“This programme we believe will guarantee the lifespan of cocoa and other farm products through Agriculture technologies. Since Ghana is the second-largest export of cocoa in the world, we challenge Ghana to take advantage of this initiative and learn to process more products from cocoa. This would reduce the long-distance that a farmer has to travel to have access to farm machinery, spare parts and technical supports in some cases,” he explained.
He further noted that plans have been made to invest in the agriculture sector if the government extends its technical support to the agriculture sector.
A representative from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture said that the government is in full support of the project and appealed for more investments in the agriculture sector. He advocated that the sector employs more than 50 percent of the Ghanaian population and this project would revamp and encourage the youth to take agriculture as a culture to agribusiness level. To him, this would help to prevent poverty in the country and the sub-region and this serves as a clear indication of a growing partnership between Ghana and India.
“This is a huge collaboration between the people of Ghana and Indians which will bring a lot of transformation into the agriculture sector. This will help create more jobs and make agriculture a lucrative industry to attract the youth even though the government is doing her best in this regard in the sector. Government is ready to support any private entity ready to invest in the sector,” he said.
Mr. Dominic Oduro Antwi, Partner and Director of AgriTech West Africa said, the AgriTech West Africa 2020 would train the youth in and outside Ghana on how to generate opportunities in various fields of technology and service to farmers from inventors.
“That the use of technology in the agriculture sector would serve as a huge motivation to the youth who are not ready to venture into agriculture because they see farming as punishment”, he added.
He expressed his profound gratitude to the guest sponsors and urged stakeholders to register to serve as facilitators for their investment in the agriculture sector in the country.
“AgriTech West Africa gives credence to enhance the credibility and provides a dynamic platform for Agribusiness communities in Ghana and West Africa to count as global Agrictech suppliers, investors and innovators” he added.
The AgriTech West Africa 2020 would exhibit agriculture practices, farm machinery, seeds, agrochemicals, dairy, poultry, livestock equipment, and agri processing technologies from India, Europe, China, Ghana, etc.
By; Nana Akua Poku.
