The African Green Revolution Forum [AGRF] is one of the biggest platforms that brings together key stakeholders all over the continent both public, private, and even civil society. The essence of the AGRF Forum in Tanzania this year is to create opportunities for actors within the agriculture value chain to come and network, connect, look for opportunities, bring investors together, and as well building relevant business. Sam Amankwah, a communications team member of AGRA said.
According to Sam. Amankwa, the whole idea behind AGRF is to create a platform for stakeholders and investors to connect and create business opportunities that will be put into practicalities in the countries participating so they can get the needed boost and funding to trigger the transformation AGRAG GH wants to see in these African countries.
To revamp the sector Mr. Amankwa said over the past few years, agriculture has suffered lapses in the hands of COVID-19 coupled with the Russian-Ukraine war, for this reason, the investors would have the opportunity to be connected and sparked for business to thrive again from country to country across the African continent helping agriculture to be placed back on the map.
He mentioned that at the end of the event, AGRA expects to see deals being sealed, and investment booming into the Agricultural sector that is trickling down to the prioritised actors [smallholder farmers).
Commenting on the various projects to AgricToday media, Mr. Bashiru a member from the Marketing Department of AGRA indicated that AGRA seeks to sieve the responses coming in from beneficiaries of the projects that have been in existence for some time now, as to how well or bad those projects are performing. There should be an idea whether the projects receiving the needed attention or not so there could be a restructuring or even continue with the old style if accepted.
Mr. Bashiru mentioned that the consensuses investment around cassava, maize, soy, and rice is of interest to the nation and has very huge cassava production in the country.
“Currently, Ghana is producing over 8 million metric tons of Cassava and what we are told out of the 8 million metric tons based on statistics is that about 30% of them go waste which means that, there must be strategic investments around post-harvest management”, he added.
To tackle post-harvest losses, he said another area that AGRA is focusing on is to support processors. Some farmers are into the production of high-quality Cassava flour [HQCF] of which manufacturers of plywood, ethanol, Gari, Tapioca, and others benefit. The last Cassava project that ended last year, 2022 saw AGRA supporting about 110,000 smallholder farmers who are basically into cassava production.
AGRA is a proudly African-led institution focused on scaling agricultural innovations that help smallholder farmers towards increased incomes, better livelihoods, and improved food security. We understand that African farmers need uniquely African solutions to the environmental and agricultural challenges they face, enabling them to sustainably boost production and gain access to rapidly growing agricultural markets.
In short, AGRA’s mission is to transform the lives of smallholder farmers from that of a solitary struggle for survival to a business that thrives.
Since 2006, we have worked with our partners, governments, non-governmental organizations, private sector businesses, and more; to deliver a set of proven solutions to smallholder farmers and indigenous African agricultural enterprises. We put smallholder farmers first on the agenda, recognizing that no country has moved from low-income to middle-income without agricultural transformation.
The work of AGRA in Ghana is in line with the Government of Ghana’s Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy (FASDEP II) and the 2nd Phase of the Medium-Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (METASIP II) in driving accelerated agriculture modernization and sustainable natural resource management.
AGRA is inviting the general public to the three (3) days AGRF Forum in Tanzania that is taking place tomorrow September 5, 2023, to September 8, 2023. An initiative that is classified as the world’s premier forum on African agriculture and food systems, bringing together stakeholders to take practical action and share lessons that will move the African food systems forward.
