Innovative financing fundamental to successful agric dev’t

Innovative financing was fundamental to successful agriculture development, Mr Thierry Van Helden, First Secretary of the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana, has said.

He said there was much funding available, both commercial and non-commercial to support the vegetable sector.

“Having a viable and realistic business plan is the key to accessing this finance,” Mr Van Helden stated at the Fourth GhanaVeg Business Platform Meeting which began on Wednesday in Accra.

The three-day meeting is on the theme: “Innovative Financing and Business Opportunities for the Commercial Vegetable Sector.”

He said the vegetable sector was important to invest into, both for Ghana and the Netherlands, as Ghana had a huge potential of delivering both the domestic and international markets.

The Business Platform also saw a Trade Delegation from the Netherlands participating, including fertilizer and seed companies, as well as importers of fresh produce.

It was designed to bring together key players of the commercial vegetable sector to tackle some of the financial challenges that the sector faces, and find ways to increase productivity, as well as the safety, quality and logistics of the produce.

The platform brought together key players in the vegetable sector, ranging from vegetable exporters to producers, and from input suppliers to domestic retailers.

Also in attendance were representatives from the Ministries of Food and Agriculture and Trade and Industry.

Presentations were made by representatives of adb Bank Limited, Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF), AgDevCo and 2SCALE.

GhanaVeg is an initiative support by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, aimed at enhancing Commercial Agriculture in Ghana.

GhanaVeg’s mission is to establish a sustainable and internationally competitive vegetable sector that contributes to inclusive economic growth, and has the capacity to continuously innovate in terms of the products and services.

GhanaVeg is driven by a strong belief in healthy and quality vegetables from Ghana, through new ways of doing business.

The initiative targets the high-end domestic and international markets, such as high end supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and exports.