Government of Ghana lifts ban on the exportation of leafy vegetables to the international markets

This was after they met all conditions set by the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate.

The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture responsible for horticulture, Kennedy Osei Nyarko disclosed the information at the opening of the maiden edition of the HortiFresh Fruit and Vegetable Fair which is on the theme, “Promoting Quality Fruits and Vegetables for a Competitive Domestic and Export Market”.

According to him, stakeholder engagement is underway to ensure that best practices in the horticulture sub-sector are upheld.

He said, “Our first meeting after the suspension was on the 19th of June and out of the 51 farms we visited, only 2 qualified that they can begin their exports so based on that we lifted the suspension on those 2 to do the exports, and we gave ourselves another two weeks that we are going to meet all the vegetable exporters association and all stakeholders to review the progress of what we have done so far.”

About a month ago, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Ghana placed an indefinite ban on the export of Capsicum, Solanum, luffa and all leafy vegetables to the international market.

The decision the ministry described was necessary to address all possible loopholes and challenges resulting from an earlier ban imposed by the European Union.

But the Project Manager of HortiFresh, Sheila Assibey-Yeboah who added her voice described the EU’s ban on local vegetable exportation as a blessing in disguise.

She said, “We are back up, and we are picking it up again, it really affected the industry but then it was a blessing in disguise, of course, with hindsight you get to appreciate some of the bad things that happen and Ghana was able to improve upon their systems and were able to coordinate all activities and get things back again to stay competitive.”