Alberta Nana Akosa, Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation
The 8th Pre-harvest Exhibition and Conference slated from 3-5 October is expected to feature workshops on ‘Planting for Food and Jobs,’ government’s flagship programme aimed at boosting agriculture.
It will also look at role of the youth in agri-business and using new technologies to improve agriculture output.
The Pre-harvest Conference, an annual international event, brings together stakeholders from the agricultural industry, comprising both the public and private sectors to discuss policies affecting the sector, exhibit products, meet suppliers in the value chain and so on.
This year’s edition, which will be held at the Aliu Mahama Stadium in Tamale in the Northern Region, has been expanded to a three-day event.
There will be a separate workshop to discuss Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) with a presentation by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture on the PFJ’s goals, targets and progress to date.
The University of Development Studies (UDS) will also undertake an assessment of PFJ’s implementation, lessons learnt and the way forward.
This will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic with discussants from MoFA, UDS, Yara Ghana, USAID ADVANCE and farmers.
The advent of new technologies and its impact on farmers’ output will be discussed under the Agritech workshop, and it will showcase Agric incubation, a soil testing van, Aflasafe and Ripping technologies.
Awards will also be presented on agric innovation to be undertaken by Kosmos.
Alberta Nana Akyea Akosa, the Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, the organisers of the Pre-harvest confab said, “the Pre-harvest event is one of the biggest platforms for the convergence of all stakeholders in the agriculture sector and therefore creates the biggest opportunity for business development, among others.”
Over 2,000 participants and exhibitors are expected to attend to interact, establish business relationships and discuss contracts, as well as explore and exploit other growth opportunities in the sector.
There will also be key activities such as training programmes, workshops, field demonstrations, exhibitions, among others.
Sponsors include Yara Ghana, Ecobank, Kosmos Energy, Interplast Limited, Motor King, Hatoum Trading, LK International, Mel Consult and Afgri John Deere.
A business desk report