Trade between Ghana and the United Kingdom (UK) has grown steadily, reaching £2.4 billion in 2022, Madam Harriet Thompson, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, has disclosed.

During this period, Ghana’s major agricultural exports to the UK were vegetables and fruits worth £59.4 million, fish and shellfish worth £39.6 million, while coffee, tea and cocoa were worth about £18.7 million.

The High Commissioner, speaking at a reception to welcome a delegation from the Agriculture and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) from the UK on Thursday, said meat formed an important part of the Trade between Ghana and the UK.

The 10-member AHDB delegation is on a three-day trade mission to Ghana to establish closer partnership in areas such as improved genetics and agriculture innovation, looking at both arable and livestock agriculture.

Madam Thompson, addressing the guests at her residence in Accra, said the British High Commission, was focused on enhancing trade volumes between the two countries by boosting British exports to Ghana and Ghanaian exports to the UK.

The delegation, including UK meat producers and exporters, have been introduced to meat importers to grow new connections and grow business links for Ghanaian and British companies.

The British High Commissioner said Ghana was one of the largest importers of British meat outside of the European Union (EU) and expressed confidence that trade numbers would increase further with the delegation in Ghana.

Between 2019 and 2021, Ghana was the biggest importer of British beef of all exports outside the EU, and one of the main non-EU export destinations for British sheep meat.

On the other hand, she said, the UK’s agric-tech expertise was world leading, which spanned satellite farm networks, precision agriculture and engineering, crop protection, soil health, livestock productivity, health and welfare and agri-data.

“Our business and trade team at the British High Commission Accra is always ready to help businesses identify partners with that expertise to help your businesses grow,” she said.

The agriculture sector contributed nearly 19 per cent to Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product in 2022 and around 40 per cent of the country’s workforce.

Therefore, Madam Thompson said, “the growth in Ghana’s agriculture really matters, so the expertise that the UK can bring really matters.”

The UK expertise and investments, she suggested, could help the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, which emphasises on commercial agriculture as announced by the President, to bloom.

Under the UK-Ghana Trade Partnership Agreement, there is both duty free and unlimited access to British markets and products.

She, therefore, highlighted the Growth Gateway, a UK Government tool, which provides free business support services to UK and African businesses to access the UK and African markets.

The Ambassador called on Ghanaian exporters and producers to take advantage of the initiative to provide them tailored support to reach the next level of their export trade.

Dr Awal Fuseini, Senior Exports Manager (AHDB) and leader of the delegation, said the mission, a mutually beneficial one, was to strengthen collaboration to enable meat importers to have direct access to supplies in the UK.

Touching on how beneficial the partnership would be for Ghanaian producers, he said the agriculture sector would generally gain from improved genetics in terms of animal breeds while complementing the deficit in meat supply in the UK.

Dr Fuseini lauded the Government’s Rearing for Food and Jobs Programme to increase animal and meat production in Ghana.

However, he said, “you need the right animals, veterinary interventions, right feed and housing to be able to commercialise production.”

Dr Fuseini, also the Sector Manager for Halal, said, “There’s no point giving animals to a farmer who hasn’t got the right feed, right housing, and right veterinary interventions.”