‘Agribusinesses have potential to contribute to economic development’

The Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Ghana, Mr Julian Opuni has stated that Ghana’s agribusinesses have a lot of potential to contribute to the country’s economic development.

Commenting on the two agricultural summits organised by the development facility of the eco.business Fund, managed by Finance in Motion, in partnership with Fidelity Bank Ghana, he said, as a local bank, it had always explored ways of supporting SMEs .

It is thus a fulfilling moment for us to see that this journey in supporting agribusinesses has had a smooth take-off with our poultry seminars held with industry players in the sector. We are confident that the lessons from the discussions and presentations will advance the industry and maximise poultry farmers’ returns on investment,” he said.

The summits discussed economical and sustainable solutions to the challenges currently faced by the local poultry sector.

It offered more than 100 participants a mixture of trainings and knowledge sharing sessions on access to finance for inputs and feeding, sustainable farm management practices, disease control, insurance, as well as how to navigate the current global uncertainty and impact of climate change.

Key take aways from the summits included the need to coordinate feed sourcing by aggregating demand and exploring alternative carbohydrate and protein sources to reduce the cost of production.

The summit, held in Accra for players in the poultry sector follows a similar one held last month in Sunyani over two days and gathered numerous industry participants such as farmers, experts in animal husbandry, members of GIRSAL and GAIP, insurance companies, agricultural exporters and many more.

A statement issued by the organisers in Accra yesterday said the initiative was the outcome of the eco.business Fund’s recent partnership with Fidelity Bank Ghana in supporting sustainable practices across various agricultural value chains in Ghana, including poultry.

In addition to financial support, the statement said, the fund provided technical assistance to the bank’s staff and end borrowers.

Poultry is the most developed livestock farming in Ghana and plays a vital role in providing the country’s population with poultry meat and eggs. The sector is also key in reducing poverty, promoting economic growth, and improving the livelihood of players in this industry.

However, it faces considerable domestic challenges, such as the high cost of inputs, diseases, inefficient production methods, inadequate access to the market and poor processing facilities, are putting many poultry businesses out of business and the country’s food security at risk.

Dr Jens Mackensen, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the eco.business Fund, said “The support of the eco.Business Fund goes beyond access to finance. These summits, co-hosted with Fidelity, demonstrate our commitment to support farmers and industry stakeholders in the country by equipping producers with the skills they need to withstand potential threats to their businesses and adapt to the challenging global environment and climate change.”

The summit held in Sunyani had participants drawn from Ashanti, North East, Bono, Bono East, Upper West, Upper East and Savanna regions while the Accra edition had participants from the southern sector of Ghana.

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