24-Hour Economy targets greenhouses, cold storage and air cargo to transform horticulture

Government is positioning the 24-hour economy as a major driver of Ghana’s horticulture industry, with plans to link greenhouse production to cold storage, logistics and export markets. Presidential Advisor on the 24-hour Economy, Augustus “Goosie” Obuadum Tanoh, said the initiative is focused on building the systems needed to turn Ghana’s horticultural potential into a competitive industry. He said production alone is not enough to create a successful horticulture industry. “Producing is not the same as building an industry,” Mr Tanoh said. He explained that a functioning industry must connect production to aggregation, processing, logistics and markets, backed by finance, standards, skills and technology.

“This is what we are working at through the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Program, connecting production to processing, logistics, and markets, and building the enabling systems within which competitive industries such as our flower industry can grow,” he said. Speaking on Friday at the opening of the 14th Ghana Garden and Flower Show, Mr Tanoh said the government’s peri-urban agricultural programme, Shiqpon, will connect greenhouses and micro-irrigated food production to aggregation, cold storage and markets. He also outlined plans to strengthen logistics for high-value agricultural exports, including cut flowers, vegetables and fruits, through the Tamale Air Cargo Hub. “The Tamale Air Cargo Hub aims to strengthen logistics for high-value agricultural exports in the cut flower, vegetable, and fruit value chains,” he said. Mr Tanoh said the 24-hour Economy Secretariat is also working with a private sector investor to develop a cut-flower corridor along the Daboya-Singa pathway. The flowers, he said, would be airlifted through the Tamale Air…