Horticulture can be new engine of jobs, exports – Veep

Vice-President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has challenged Ghana to transform its horticulture sector into a globally competitive industry capable of creating jobs, expanding businesses and opening new export opportunities.

She said Ghana had the potential to replicate and even surpass the success of countries such as Kenya by investing strategically in flowers, vegetables and other high-value horticultural products.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang made the call at the opening of the 14th Ghana Garden and Flower Show in Accra, where she described horticulture as more than an agricultural activity, saying it could become a major source of businesses, livelihoods and employment across the economy.

“Thank you very much for the references to Kenya. We know we can do the same, if not more, can’t we?” she said.

She said Ghana’s ambition should go beyond producing crops and flowers to developing an integrated industry covering production, processing, transportation, storage, marketing and export.

“The opportunity is to help more of these enterprises develop into sustainable businesses that can employ others, supply larger markets, and, where possible, compete beyond Ghana,” she said.

From farming to profitable businesses

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the greatest opportunity lay in turning horticultural production into sustainable enterprises capable of employing more people and supplying larger domestic and international markets.

She said the industry could support businesses at every stage of the value chain, creating opportunities not only for farmers but also processors, logistics operators, marketers, exporters and service providers.

However, she cautioned that the perishable nature of many horticultural products required investment in the infrastructure needed to preserve their value.

“Horticulture is demanding because much of what it produces sometimes is perishable. Therefore, without reliable transport, storage, quality standards, and access to markets, value may be quickly lost,” she said.

She called for systems that would enable producers to move their products efficiently from farms to markets while reducing post-harvest losses.

According to her, strengthening these systems would allow small producers to expand their operations, reach larger markets and develop into sustainable businesses.

Jobs for young people

The Vice-President identified horticulture as a significant area for youth employment and entrepreneurship, urging young people to look beyond conventional crop production and identify businesses that could be built around horticultural products.

“The opportunity is not only to encourage young people to grow more, but also to help them to see the businesses they can build around their produce,” she said.

She said the combination of agriculture, technology, creativity and enterprise could create a new generation of young businesses.

Beyond farming, she identified opportunities in greenhouse production, landscaping, flower businesses, logistics, packaging, marketing and other services supporting the horticultural value chain.

She said these activities could create employment while helping young entrepreneurs build businesses around growing domestic and international demand.

Govt programmes to support expansion

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said existing government agricultural programmes provided a foundation for expanding horticultural production.

She said vegetables were among the priority crops under the Feed Ghana Programme, with opportunities to increase production through irrigation, improved inputs, greenhouse production and better market access.

She also pointed to the establishment of farmer service centres across the country, which she said were expected to provide producers with inputs, machinery, export support and market linkages.

She said these interventions could help address some of the constraints preventing small and medium-sized horticultural enterprises from expanding.

Opening new export markets

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said Ghana needed to strengthen standards, financing, skills and market access if local horticultural businesses were to compete successfully in international markets.

She called for stronger collaboration among government, training institutions, financial institutions, private businesses and industry organisations.

“Training institutions can develop the skills the sector needs. Financial institutions can support viable enterprises. The private sector can develop markets, and movements such as this one can continue bringing the industry together and making its possibilities visible,” she said.

She said the objective should be to move horticulture from fragmented production into a coordinated industry capable of supplying larger markets and generating new export revenues.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang cited the Tree for Life initiative, under which millions of seedlings are being planted, and said metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies were being encouraged to work with parks and gardens to improve green spaces.

She said recent flooding had demonstrated the need to integrate environmental protection into national development.

“Greening should therefore not be something we consider after development; greening should be part of development itself,” she said.

Building an export industry

The 14th Ghana Garden and Flower Show, according to Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, provided an important platform for growers, businesses, institutions and other stakeholders to showcase the commercial potential of horticulture.

She said Ghana needed to move from isolated production to a coordinated industry backed by infrastructure, finance, skills, technology and reliable markets.

$75m mango exports

Presidential Advisor on the 24-Hour Economy, Dr Augustus Goosie Obuodum Tanoh, said Ghana already had evidence of the export potential of horticulture.

He cited US$75 million in mango exports to 42 markets in 2024, saying the country could build on that achievement by strengthening the wider horticultural value chain.

He called for stronger links between production, processing, storage, logistics, finance and markets to enable Ghana to compete more effectively in global horticulture.

Dr Tanoh said government was working to strengthen horticultural value chains under the 24-Hour Economy, including plans for a cut-flower production corridor and improved air-cargo facilities to support exports.

He also urged stakeholders to take advantage of growing domestic demand for flowers and other horticultural products.

Cutting flower imports

Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Communications Africa Ltd. (Stratcomm Africa), Esther Cobbah, challenged Ghanaians to make greater economic use of the country’s natural resources instead of spending scarce foreign exchange on products that could be produced locally.

She questioned why Ghana should continue importing flowers for funerals, birthdays, weddings and other social occasions when the country had the land and climate to produce a variety of flowers.

Ms Cobbah said deliberate investment in flower production could transform what was often viewed mainly as decoration into a viable commercial industry capable of creating jobs and generating foreign exchange through both domestic sales and exports.

She noted that imported flowers also incurred additional preservation costs because of their perishable nature, including electricity costs at a time when the country continued to face challenges with reliable power supply.

She stressed that the objective was not to completely stop imports but to identify products that Ghana could competitively produce and develop businesses around them.

Ms Cobbah similarly urged citizens to take responsibility for keeping Ghana clean and green while viewing the country’s green resources as economic assets.

Greening as an economic opportunity

The speakers also linked horticulture to environmental sustainability, arguing that green development could generate economic opportunities while improving communities.

With strategic investment, stronger value chains and collaboration between the public and private sectors, she said horticulture could evolve into a significant source of jobs, new businesses, foreign exchange and export growth.

The sector, she maintained, could therefore become an important pillar of Ghana’s economic transformation by creating opportunities from the farm through processing, logistics and marketing to international markets.

By ZEENATU ABUBAKAR, Accra