…as it signs MOU with Agrihouse Foundation
The Managing Director of Yara Ghana Limited, Mr. Danquah Addo-Yobo has reiterated the company’s strong support for the Annual Pre-harvest Event which brings together various players in the agriculture value chain together to network, build capacity, explore business opportunities, sign deals and close contracts.
He disclosed this during a ceremony to sign an MOU detailing its sponsorship package with Agrihouse Foundation, the organisers of the Pre-harvest Agribusiness Exhibitions and Conference this year
”Yara Ghana has over the past few years, collaborated with the USAID/ADVANCE project on their demonstration farms and capacity building events such as the Pre-harvest event. So now that USAID/ADVANCE is handing over the programme to Agrihouse Foundation to organise, it seemed the natural thing to continue to support the event because we have seen the value in it” he stated.
Yara Ghana this year will support the event with cash sponsorship, together with technical support. The company is also part of the planning committee and hopes to bring its years of expertise in crop nutrition solutions to bear in organising a successful event this year.
Yara Ghana limited is a leading name in the fertilizer industry in Ghana and has been supporting and collaborating with other agencies and organisations on initiatives that go to strengthen the agricultural value chain.
The Managing Director also outlined some of the other activities the company has been involved in to empower and support smallholder farmers in the country.
”Yara as a farmer centric company has been supporting smallholder farmers in its operations as has been amply demonstrated over the past years through our several interventions aimed at increasing farmer knowledge, productivity and farmer profitability through the Yara Crop Nutrition Approach. We have done this through series of farmer trainings, demonstration farms and crop clinics in farming communities across the country“. He added.
Agrihouse Foundation’s Executive Director, Ms. Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, thanked Yara Ghana for the support and their effort to assist sustain and scale the Pre-harvest Event up.
Ms. Akosa noted that, the event, which will hold from the October 3 to 5, 2018 at the Aliu Mahama Sports stadium Tamale, is by far, the largest gathering of Value chain actors and agribusinesses and encouraged stakeholders to endeavor to participate, network and explore business opportunities, during the period.
The event features Training Programs, Workshops, Field demonstrations, Innovations and Exhibitions, showcasing companies and organizations in the areas of seeds and seed production, fertilizer, finance, fisheries, storage, machinery, packaging and processing, food, innovation, ICT, Government agencies, development partners, farmers and farming associations.
The Preharvest event is at the verge of transforming agribusiness in Ghana with the Government’s Planting for Food and Jobs programme; the strong interest by agro-processors on sourcing raw materials locally, a growing band of agribusiness entrepreneurs, and lessons from development partner interventions.
In 2017, the event brought together over 800 farmers, buyers, input dealers, manufacturers, government officials, development partners and financial institutions, among others. The actors networked, discussed expectations and contracts for the 2017 harvest of maize, rice, soybean and other commodities, as well as established business relationships. Participants also acquired ideas and learned about technologies exhibited during the event.
Over the years, the event has helped farmers to access new market opportunities and technology to increase agricultural productivity.
Earlier this year, the USAID ADVANCE handed over the Pre-harvest Agribusiness Exhibitions and Conference to Agrihouse Foundation, with the World Food Program as a key organizing partner.
