Denmark’s Ambassador to Ghana, Tom Ngrring, has disclosed that about 50% of crops harvested in Ghana go to waste annually.
The statement was on the back of a report by the Denmark Embassy following a study to assess the volumes of food loss “and importantly, identifying the potential value if we instead take that loss and turn it into a gain.”
“In essence, the study looked at the business case of investing in solutions to combat food loss for a number of value chains in fruits and vegetables. The study showed that there are intriguing business cases for farmers, producers, investors, and stakeholders in the value chains if we apply the right solutions to reduce food loss and instead turn this loss into value,” he noted in a report by Citi online.
Addressing stakeholders at a food security seminar organized by the Danish Embassy in Ghana, Ambassador, Tom Negrring disclosed that Ghana loses over 16 million dollars to post-harvest losses for some selected food crops.
“As an example, we can look at the area of Ashaiman: here the report assesses the value of post-harvest food loss for mango, yam, plantain, garden eggs, and tomatoes alone are valued at $16 million annually. An investment in solar-powered cold storage for these value chains will result in revenue of over $ 2 million for solution providers while providing additional revenue to traders worth over $8 million,” he disclosed.
Tom N@grring called for a stronger partnership between Danish and Ghanaian businesses to find feasible solutions to the food wastage recorded in the country.
