Agribusiness; the way forward for Ghana’s economic development

Ebenezer Acheampon, a former Head of Procurement at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has said that Agribusiness is the way forward for the economic development of Ghana and has urged all farmers to take advantage of the emerging opportunities and go into crop farming.

He said this during an Agribusiness Summit organized by the Men Ministry of the Church of Pentecost, Obuasi Area.

The Church of Pentecost Men Ministry (PEMEM) in Obuasi Area under the chairmanship of Apostle Williams Boakye Agyarko held the summit on Saturday 23rd of April 2022 at the Bedieso Chapel Auditorium in Obuasi under the theme “Equipping Men with Opportunities and Skill Set to Possess the Nations”.

Mr. Acheampong mentioned that the fundamental elements and their percentages are key to one’s bid to be prosperous in business. He stated that for one to be prosperous, Knowledge and Wisdom takes ten percent (10%), Character takes forty percent (40%), and the Environment takes the remaining fifty percent (50%).  He then advised the farmers to study their environment by way of needs before going into a particular crop farming, acquire knowledge before taking any adventure and to also possess the right character for it.

After setting the context, the guest speaker also spoke about agribusiness value chain and the emerging opportunities in agriculture. He categorized the agribusiness value chain into four segments (1. Input Manufacturing and Production, 2. Input Sales and Supply, 3. Farming and Harvesting, 4. Processing, Packaging and Retailing). He went on to explain the business opportunities in all the segments and encouraged the participants to find a suitable segment for themselves.

He again informed the farmers the six emerging Tree Crops such as Coconut Trees, Rubber Trees, Oil Palm Trees, Mango Trees, Cashew Trees and Shea Trees required for the socio-economic development of Ghana and asked the farmers to pursue those tree crops, take advantage of government initiative and support for growing these Trees for their personal benefit and that of the nation.

The summit saw One Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty-Eight (1,268) members and Pastors from all the Twenty-Eight (28) Districts in the Area.

Apostle William Boakye Agyarko – The Area Head of the Church of Pentecost in Obuasi admonished all Christians to be diligent in their work for the blessings of God to be manifested in their lives.

He advised the members not to be lazy but work hard in their chosen profession. He mentioned that contemporary Christians prefer to pray for the blessings of God without doing any work but said “our God blesses us through our hard work and diligence as stated in the bible”.

The Area Men Ministry Leader – Pastor Benjamin Sarpong Mensah thanked the facilitators, the guest speaker and asked all the members to use the knowledge acquired for the betterment of their lives, the society and to possess the nations for Christ.