President Nana Akufo-Addo Visits The Netherlands
On 6 September 2022, Ghanaian president Akufo-Addo paid a successful bilateral working visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of Prime Minister Rutte. The visits by the President, organized by the Netherlands, focused on the two sectors that the Netherlands will focus on in Ghana in the coming years: cocoa and horticulture. As the world's largest importer of cocoa and as a forerunner in the field of innovation in horticulture, the Netherlands has a lot to offer Ghana.
Cocoa: Many shared interests
The president visited one of the cocoa processing facilities of the American company Cargill in the Zaan region. In this modern facility cocoa beans from West Africa are processed into the semi-finished products cocoa powder and cocoa butter.
After the visit the Port of Amsterdam invited a large group of cocoa experts for a roundtable lunch conversation. The CEO of the Cocobod in his speech, reiterated his well-known position that neither deforestation nor child labor are properly understood from a Ghanaian perspective. He also echoed the drive for higher pricing as the single most important driver for a living income for a cocoa farmer. The differences between this position and the contributions from the Dutch and international participants showed that there is still much work to be done.
In his speech, the president himself mainly looked at the bigger picture. Ghana and Ivory Coast need a bigger slice of the pie that is the global chocolate industry he said. He also linked the state of the cocoa sector to other global developments such as the availability of fertilizers and from there, of course, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The president was visibly impressed by the knowledge and skills that the Netherlands has to offer.
World Horti Centre: ''The Netherlands has a lot to offer''
At the World Horti Center, the delegation was quickly immersed in the rich Dutch horticultural tradition. From public-private partnership (Dutch diamond / triple helix) to entrepreneurship. And from education to internationalization. Various pitches showed the possibilities and ambitions of Dutch entrepreneurs active in Ghana or with the ambition to become active. East West Seeds talked about the potential for small scale farmers if they get access to quality seed and training. Holland Greentech shared their experience on (slightly) more advanced production systems including nethouses, irrigation and/or smart pest control. Priva sketched an attractive (but far removed) futuristic picture of advanced greenhouses. Finally, the president was given a presentation on practical education in one of the advanced greenhouses.
President Akufo Addo concluded the day with the urgent call for more close collaboration between Ghana and The Netherlands since it became apparent to him that ”the Netherlands has a lot to offer”. This will certainly be picked up by the embassy and their partners while we start the implementation of the new multi annual strategy focusing exactly at the two sector mention above.
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Landbouwteam Ghana
E-mail: acc-lnv@minbuza.nl (Accra)
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