The Denmark Ambassador to Ghana, Tom Nørring, has revealed that Ghana loses over $16 million to post-food harvest.
As a result, he has called for stronger collaboration between Danish and Ghanaian businesses to find viable solutions to the country’s food waste.
According to the Ambassador, Ghana wastes roughly half of its food harvest.
This trend, he believes, can be reversed if the agricultural value chain players view surplus gaps as investment opportunities.
Speaking to stakeholders at a food security seminar hosted by the Danish Embassy in Ghana, Ambassador Tom Nrring revealed that Ghana loses more than 16 million dollars due to post-harvest losses on certain food crops.
“In early 2020, the Embassy commissioned a feasibility study with the aim of assessing the volumes of food loss and importantly, identifying the potential value if we instead take that loss and turn it into a gain. In essence, the study looked at the business case of investing in solutions to combat food loss for a number of value chains in fruits and vegetables. The study showed that there are intriguing businesses cases for farmers, producers, investors and stakeholders in the value chains if we apply the right solutions to reduce food loss and instead turn this loss into value,” he said.
“Standing on the foundation of the feasibility study and all the interactions since 2020, we want to tap into all the corners of the food cluster to form partnerships between Danish and Ghanaian businesses and stakeholders. We seek to form partnerships that aim to tackle the problem of food loss but do it based on sustainable business models that make the partnerships a win-win for all involved,” he added.
“As an example, we can look at the area of Ashaiman: here the report assesses the value of post-harvest food loss for mango, yam, plantain, garden eggs, tomatoes alone are valued at $16 million annually. An investment in solar-powered cold storage for these value chains will result in revenue of over $ 2million for solution providers, while providing additional revenue to traders worth over $8 million,” he said.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
