SUSTAINING INNOVATIVE
FINANCING OF WASTE AND
SPOILAGE TECHNOLOGIES:
CONTRIBUTIONS OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
PRESENTED ON BEHALF OF ING. J. K. BOAMAH
BY A. K. B. DEYANG
6TH Nov., 2014
ISSER Conference Room
OUTLINE
•
•
•
•
INTRODUCTION
FOOD SECURITY EXPERTS’ VIEWS
GHANA’S LESSONS
GOVERNMENT/DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
INTERVENTIONS
• FOCUS ON AGRI-FINANCE TOOLS
• CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
• Postharvest loss is collective food loss along
the food production chain, from harvest and
handling to storage and processing to
packaging and transportation up to the fork.
• There is economic loss and decrease
throughout the supply chain that leads to
reduction of food for its intended use and
return on investment.
• The causes of postharvest losses are complex
and vary depending on the weather, region
and crop, but the challenges faced by farmers
and processors are lack of proper storage
facilities, appropriate transportation and
distribution systems, sufficient processing
facilities and detailed information on where
and how food is lost along the value chain.
ECONOMIC LOSS
• It is documented that $4 billion is lost every
year in Africa including Ghana as a result of
postharvest losses and this significantly
reduces profit and incomes of farmers and
other operators along the value chain (Africa
Progress report, 2014 - AfDB).
• Postharvest loss is therefore a major
contributor to food insecurity on our
continent.
FOOD SECURITY EXPERTS VIEWS
• Food security experts have advocated for
reduction of postharvest loss and increase related
value addition by using efficient technologies and
marketing systems.
• These experts also advocated that investment in
agriculture should go beyond improvements in
on-farm productivity to address the postharvest
sector and complementary areas of agribusiness
and agro-industry, whose potential as engines of
economic growth is widely acknowledged.
GHANA’S LESSONS
• Lessons learnt in Ghana show that the
agricultural sector has struggled to access the
needed finances for sustained growth. In part,
a perceived combination of high risk and
modest returns as well as the costs of
extending banking infrastructures in rural
areas has deterred many banks and other
financial institutions.
• The inherent risk associated with agriculture
(such as unpredictable biological, climatic and
price variables) result in an under-provision of
financial services in rural areas.
• Further, where services are available, products
are often designed without considering the
needs and capacities of rural households and
agricultural producers.
• The inability of farmers and processors to
access capital on competitive terms to
undertake profitable investments in
postharvest loss management
• Without financial products and services to
insure against risk, rural households and
enterprises may even retreat from profitable
projects for which they have adequate
liquidity.
• Farmers’ inaccessibility to finance is a key
impediment to improving the efficiency of
their productions and adopting better
technologies
GOVERNMENT/DEVELOPMENT
PARTNERS INTERVENTIONS
• For the past decade government through the Ministry
of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) intervened by directly
acquiring machinery and technologies for onward sale
to farmers under subsidy.
• For example:
– Drying facilities (mechanical and solar),
– Harvesting equipment (combine harvesters, rippers)
– Processing facilities (Rice mills, sheanut & oil palm
processors etc.)
– Storage facilities (metallic silos, grain super bags etc)
• among others were sold on hire purchase basis to
farmers and processors.
• The Japanese Government gave Ghana
government a grant facility to the tune of US $50
million to procure various agricultural machinery
and equipment for sale to the under privilege
farmers.
• Italian government, MOFA has set up a tomato
processing centre in Techiman in Brong Ahafo
region. The main objective of this project is to
process tomatoes and other allied commodities
in Techiman and its environs to cut down waste
and spoilage encountered yearly.
• Additionally, the Millennium Development
Authority (MiDA) built five (5) grain cleaning
and bagging facilities and warehouses in the
Northern region. The facilities are located in
Panaa, Savelugu, Karaga, and Walewale where
farmers process their produce at a fee instead
of acquiring their own machinery which may
be costly to individual / unresourced farmers.
• Ghana Grain Council, a private company, too
had set up grain cleaning and bagging centre
in Tamale for Gundaa Produce Company and
another one in Wa for Big Ajar Enterprise and
offer farmers confirmed market.
• With the patronage of these facilities, wastage
and spoilage are eventually reduced and good
quality commodities are sold at premium
price.
FOCUS ON AGRI-FINANCE TOOLS
• Building capacity of client financial institutions
in agri-finance: conducting diagnostics,
improving risk management systems and
processes and designing new products;
• Linking financial institutions to sustainable
supply chains: promoting access to finance for
stakeholders along sustainable supply chains;
and
• Linking insurance to agri-finance: bringing
insurance products to address postharvest
loses and revenue risks.
CONCLUSION
• The aforementioned reasons, we believe that
our partnership with the private sector and
scientists etc. in the agriculture industry in
providing innovative financing in postharvest
technologies / machinery and training will go
a long way to reduce postharvest losses. We
also have to take advantage of the wide
ECOWAS and other international market to
reduce waste and spoilage.
THANK YOU