By Priscilla Oye Ofori/ Tracy Peprah
Accra, Nov. 22, GNA — A delegation from the State of Nebraska, United States of America, has called on Mr Yaw Frimpong Addo, Deputy Minister, Food and Agriculture, responsible for Crops, in Accra.
This was part of a five-day visit to the country to participate in the Ghana-Nebraska Stakeholders Business Networking to deepen the business collaboration between Ghana and Nebraska.
The delegation led by Mr Ken Schilz, a former Nebraska State Senator will explore investment opportunities and deepen collaborations between Ghana and the State of Nebraska, especially in the Livestock and Agro Processing sub-sectors.
Mr Schliz is accompanied by Madam Julie Slama, a State Senator in the Nebraska Legislature, and Andrew La Grone, Former member of the Nebraska Legislature.
Mr Schliz said the visit would be “mutually beneficial for the two countries, as there would be more to learn about the investment and development opportunities in Ghana, especially through interactions with both the public and the private sectors’ key players, as well as through field trips for first-hand experience.”
He said it would be beneficial to identify business people in Ghana who were interested in agriculture opportunities to collaborate with processors and added value people in Nebraska and bring their expertise to Ghana.
The former State Senator some seed companies in Nebraska were interested in bringing genetics or production seeds to support farmers in Ghana.
Mr Schliz noted that the it was not prudent for a country to rely solely on imports because supply chains could break down.
He said the team and Agrihouse Foundation would jointly launch the “Nebraska-Ghana Agri-Value Addition Acceleration and Development Conference (NEGRI-VAD)” in Ghana.
The former State Senator said NEGRI-VAD, would be an annual event, to help develop business markets among Ghanaian Value Chain Actors and businesses in Nebraska.
Mr Frimpong Addo said the Ministry was ready to learn from the agricultural experiences from Nebraska.
He noted that Ghanaian farmers produced so much but lacked processing and value addition, hence, they lost many produce from the farms.
The Deputy Minister called for enhanced partnership where Nebraska would provide technological support to Ghana, which had a good climate for farming to produce crops to feed Nebraska’s livestock.
He applauded the State Senators for their assurance of collaborations with the Ministry.
GNA