Ghana loses over $16 million to post food harvest

The Denmark Ambassador to Ghana, Tom Nørring is calling for a stronger partnership between Danish and Ghanaian businesses to finding feasible solutions to the food wastage recorded in the country.

He explains that Ghana loses about 50% of its food harvest to wastage. This development he believes can be mitigated if players in the agricultural value chain consider the gaps in the surpluses as investment opportunities.

Addressing stakeholders at a food security seminar organized by the Danish Embassy in Ghana, Ambassador, Tom Nørring disclosed that Ghana loses over 16 million dollars to post harvest losses for some selected 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.

He also noted that, “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 opined.

He further highlighted the volumes of loss and possible revenue in the food value chain.

“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 disclosed.