FAGRO 2010 ends

18/10/2010

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE second National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO 2010) ended yesterday with many exhibitors being happy with the level of patronage of the week-long event.
The exhibitors were from Ghana, some neighbouring African countries, Europe and the United States of America.
It was organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) on the theme: “Sustainable Agriculture through Appropriate Technology”, and had on display agricultural products, agro chemicals, foodstuffs, livestock, fisheries, beverages and agricultural machinery.
Some locally manufactured agro-processing machines and processed products were some of the revelations at the exhibition.
Fruit juice extraction machines for blending water melon, pineapple, and oranges, a hammer mill for drying products into fine powder and a self-feeding cassava grater were some of the agro-processing machines exhibited by GRATIS Foundation, a technology transfer, training and manufacturing organisation operating in the country.
Greenlife Moringa Leaf Powder produced by Daysah Ventures, a local company, and natural cocoa powder processed by Lihena were some of the neatly packaged locally produced products at the exhibition.
The Marketing Manager of GRATIS Foundation, Mrs Caroline Tsikata, said the exhibition had offered her outfit the needed exposure as people from other countries had expressed interest in the products.
She said GRATIS Foundation would do a follow-up to those countries to market the agro-processing machines, which include rice mill and shea nut crusher.
The Director of Daysah Ventures, Mr George Amissah, said the exhibition had been good since he had sold many of the company’s bottled moringa powder and established contacts with prospective buyers.
He urged the government to support producers of moringa with funds to enable them to produce more to satisfy the country’s market and even export abroad.
Mr Ouattara Moustapha, an exhibitor from Burkina Faso, said patronage of his company’s cashew nut products was encouraging, but indicated that it was below his expectation.
He said generally the organisation was good because there were many well-decorated stands and vigilant security officers. An exhibitor of natural cocoa powder, Mr Isaac Kwadwo Boamah, said sales of the product had been good while the company (Lihena) had established contact with prospective buyers.
He, however, expressed worry at the poor publicity given to the exhibition in the media, and called for the rectification of that anomaly in subsequent exhibitions.
Mr Boamah suggested that future FAGRO should include general goods to attract more people from all walks of life to the exhibition.
Seminars on agribusiness, agro-technology and food processing and preservation were held alongside the exhibition, which were attended mainly by senior high school students and a few farmers and manufacturers.
There was a food competition for students of the National Vocational and Training Institute (NVTI) and the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, presented prizes and certificates to the winners.