For the first time in the history of Kintampo, an agri-input fair designed to develop a conducive business climate for energetic innovative entrepreneurs in mango production was organized for farmers across the area.

The event was organised by Hortifresh, a sustainable and internationally competitive fruit and vegetable group that contributes to inclusive economic growth, food and nutrition security in Ghana.

On Tuesday, August 10, value chain actors such as; input dealers, processors, producers, services providers, seed producers, agro-chemical dealers, farmers, buyers and government agencies came together to create a business climate for these players.

The fair was opened at the forecourt of the Kintampo North Municipal Agric Office and was held under the theme, “Promoting Quality Agri-inputs within the mango sector for a competitive domestic and export market”, as it resonates with HortiFresh’s mission to develop an internationally competitive and sustainable fruit and vegetable sector in Ghana.

Speaking at the opening of the event, Programmes Manager for Hortifresh, Mrs Shilla Assibey Yeboah indicated that the fair seeks to promote and improve the fruit and vegetable sector in the country as well as trade promotion and stakeholder engagement.

She noted that "all actors along the mango value and supply chain are all participating as a means of enhancing the productivity and marketing of the commodity which is a high yielding commodity and therefore we realized that there's a lot that can be done to improve its processes".

"This is a fair we do in most places not just in Kintampo. This is our first time coming here and we realize that most of the farmers here have no idea where to market but to sell to the main conventional marketers which is the big processors and then the market women. They had no idea that there were other channels to market their goods and so this is an opportunity for them to learn and also to interact with other actors along the value chain", she added.

Mrs Shilla Assibey Yeboah was impressed by the number of new companies that the sector has attracted and the number of new products and services that participated in the maiden event and encouraged the companies to add value to their produce.

District Director of Agriculture, Mr. Simon Yambon indicated that the fair would build relationships between the farmers and the input dealers, processors and other actors in the mango industry.

"It's going to help make our work easy so far as our census service delivery is concerned.

"So these farmers can now have access to these input dealers so that if they have any challenge, they can call and order any chemical or any implement they want from these people and it's going to help increase our production and the quality of the fruits," he added.

Chairman of the Kintampo Mango Farmers Association Mr. David Opoku Sarfo on behalf of the farmers commended the organizers of the program and called for more "such engagements".

"In fact, this fair has been very good to farmers especially to Mango farmers because a lot of the farmers know how to do the farming but how to go for the right inputs sometimes is a problem. Secondly, how to use the implements too and where to get them becomes another problem so once this fair is done here, it's going to help a lot of the farmers in that regard".

He called on policymakers in the Agric sector to "work towards holding more of such fairs frequently to help boost the knowledge of Mango farmers in the area".