Accra: The World Food Programme (WFP), in collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation, has disbursed funds ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to Ghanaian startups addressing post-harvest losses. This financial support comes as part of an Agribusiness Competition, which evaluated proposals from local ventures offering innovative and sustainable solutions for processing and preserving agricultural produce.
According to Ghana News Agency, the initiative aims to promote food transformation as a strategy for reducing waste and strengthening food security. Over a three-day contest at the University of Ghana, a panel of experts assessed various prototypes, including solar dryers, rice-based cosmetics, smart storage technologies, and tomato powders.
In an interview, Ms. Aurore Rusiga, Country Director of WFP, commended the ingenuity of the participating startups. She noted that reducing post-harvest losses could significantly boost food availability, enhance national food security, and improve incomes for farmers and agribusinesses. Ms. Rusiga emphasized WFP's commitment to empowering youth-led innovation aimed at building resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems.
Ms. Rusiga remarked, "Ghana's food revolution is no longer a dream, but already in motion considering the efforts of researchers, financial institutions, agro-industry, farmers, and ingenious innovation of our young people in the agriculture sector, without forgetting the unwavering support of the government."
The agriculture sector in Ghana contributes over 21 percent to the country's GDP and employs approximately 60 percent of the population, covering 65 percent of the country's land. Mr. Steven Nhyira Odarteifio, Coordinator for Food Systems at WFP, highlighted the potential impact of deploying the identified innovations to smallholder farmers, which could help reduce post-harvest losses and boost their incomes.
"We are dedicating between $1,000 to $10,000 of funding available to these young, brilliant minds, so that for whatever feedback we give them, whatever presentations they've made to us, we can then stagger these payments and charges as they meet KPIs we've set for them to achieve that scale," Mr. Odarteifio stated.
Post-harvest losses cost Ghana an estimated $1.9 billion annually, primarily due to inadequate processing facilities, poor storage, and limited road infrastructure.
