A four-day workshop aimed at training members of the Ghana Agricultural Producers and Traders Organisation (GAPTO) is underway in Accra to help members seek government’s support to access credit for the expansion of onion cultivation.

The workshop which is sponsored by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund is also with the support of Smile Ghana.

Briefing the Ghana News Agency on Friday Mr Paul Oduro Frimpong, Executive Director of the Society for Managing Initiatives and Leadership Enhancement (SMILE, Ghana) expressed the hope that the advocacy workshop would equip members of the Organisation to effectively engage government.

He extolled the socio-economic importance of onion trading stressing that it has created employment and wealth opportunities for many market women.

Mr Frimpong said his outfit was keen to give the GAPTO the needed support to enable them build their advocacy to obtain the needed support from action targets.

Alhaji Haruna Agesheka, General Secretary of GAPTO, was optimistic that government would support them for the expansion of onion farms and ensure their business sustainability.

He said available data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry indicated that Ghana imported onions valued at more than $41,975,073 into the country last year and expressed a contrary view that increased access to capital for onion farmers would empower them to produce locally and to enhance the growth of the industry, a situation that would retain foreign exchange that would have been used for the importation.

Mr Joseph Atayem Awantungo, one of the facilitators of the workshop, who is also the Managing Consultant of the Pinnacle Investment Group Limited, a private training and accounting firm, expressed the hope that the members of the GAPTO would acquire the needed skills to successfully “see them through their engagement with action Targets.”**