Vegetable farmers in Ghana have urged the government of Nana Akufo-Addo, to take advantage of the country’s export ban that was lifted by EU recently to revive the agricultural sector.
Vegetables such as Chillies, Aubergine and Vegetables grouped under the gourd family from Ghana were banned from being exported to EU markets in October 2015, because they were infested by pests
The Cucumber, Tomatoes and Cabbage farmers mainly from the Atomic farms under the Atomic Energy in Accra, opined that it is the right time for government to provide and support them with all the necessary tools and agro-chemicals that will improve planting, post-harvest management as well as packaging in line with high professional standards.
Deputy Program Leader at GhanaVeg, Sheila Assibey-Yeboah, said the initiative was to promote a competitive sector because vegetables are now cash crops that can help generate a lot of money to improve Ghana’s economy.
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The ban has made Ghana, the fifth largest exporter of vegetable to the EU market, lose $30 million between 2015 – 2017 because of the country’s non-compliance with EU standards of exporting vegetables.
However, the government of Ghana said it had put in place measures such as upgrading of sanitary and phytosanitary systems, equipping of Kotoka Airport to facilitate easy export of vegetables to the EU markets.
The Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Ron Strikker assured the farmers of continued support to enable Ghana to commercialize the production of vegetables through the use of technology.
