Players in the agric sector have made fresh appeals to develop other export yielding ventures to increase Ghana’s export revenue.
The renewed calls also come at a time that export revenue from cocoa is expected to drop due to declining global market prices.
They contend that the increased options will shield the country from impacts of revenue losses and help diversify the country’s exports.
The President of the Ghana Agricultural Chamber of Commerce, Philip Abayori explains to Citi Business News crops such as cassava, soyabeans and maize could be harnessed for the overall diversification project.
Currently, the country produces about 60 million metric tonnes of cassava and an increase in its cultivation is expected to increase revenue particularly from Asian countries where there is high industrial demand.
“Cassava is one crop that is also widely used and also in high demand across Asia especially in China for industrial purposes. We can increase the growing of cassava from the 60 million tonnes and also bring technology on bare so that we could put it in good use for exports,” Philip Abayori stated.
He added, “We can increase production of soya beans for oil foods and poultry industry which is also another crop needed highly. Maize is also another crop that is widely needed for food security within the sub-region.”
The Bank of Ghana’s latest summary of economic and financial data showed that export revenue from cocoa dropped by 10 percent in a year-on-year comparison between February 2016 and the same period this year.
In addition, Agric Minister, Dr. Afriyie Akoto has predicted of a further dip in export revenue from cocoa due to signals of a further decline in prices.
But Mr. Philip Abayori is highly hopeful that developing the other alternative crops should reduce the impacts of such distortions on the economy.
“All these are things that could be done to ensure that we have other supporting crops which will at least help cocoa. So at the time cocoa prices are dropping we could rely on these other trade crops knowing that they can also support the economy,” he further observed.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
