Take advantage of opportunities in horticulture and floriculture – Mona Quartey
Ms Mona Quartey, Deputy Minister of Finance, has urged Ghanaians, especially the youth to take advantage of the opportunities in the horticulture and floriculture sector to create jobs and contribute to Ghana’s economic development.
She said tourism and all its sub-sectors, including ecotourism have important contributions to make to the nation’s economic development, with agriculture, under which floriculture and horticulture fell, consistently being a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.
She made the statements at the closing and awards ceremony of the fourth Ghana Garden and Flower Show (GGFS); the flagship event of the Ghana Garden and Flower Movement, spearheaded by StratComm Africa.
Ms Quartey, said while Cocoa, Coffee and Shea Butter were the main agricultural contributors to the growth of the GDP, flower and vegetables were becoming an important part of that growth.
“The diversification opportunity that is offered through horticulture and floriculture is really important,” she said adding that Ghana had a suitable climate to cultivate and export flowers as countries like Kenya and Ethiopia have done.
She said there is a critical role of the private sector in this regard and urged them to start considering a value chain approach to developing the sector.
She said government was committed to creating the enabling environment to stimulate such entrepreneurial initiatives, with tax rates for businesses involved in non-traditional exports lower than that for traditional exports.
“I’d like to encourage our entrepreneurs, especially the young ones: don’t only blog about it, put your fingers in the soil and plant some flowers”.
Mrs Mawuena Trebarh, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, who chaired the ceremony, said the GIPC was very keen on supporting investments in all sectors including agriculture and specifically horticulture.
She said the GIPC was committed to continue its partnership with StratComm Africa on the Garden and Flower Movement to create more jobs from the industry.
“Nothing is more important than the environment in which we live, in which we work, in which we grow and nurture our families; supporting the endeavour that StratComm Africa has put together is extremely important, not just from a commercial standpoint but also from personal, health and environmental standpoint” she said.
At the event, Madam Lamley Lamptey was honoured for being the Best Private Home Garden; Interplast Limited for Best Industry Garden, Akai House for Best Hospital Garden, Accra Ridge Church for Best Church Garden, Labadi Beach Hotel for Best Hotel Garden, Ashesi University for Best School Garden and I Garden for the Most Attractive Exhibitor award.
Ms Esther Cobbah, Chief Executive Officer of StratComm Africa, urged all participants of the GGFS 2016 to act on the new seeds of innovative ideas they had gained from the workshops and conferences.
“We must all plant and grow the seeds of knowledge and wisdom we have obtained here into income-generating, job-creating and foreign exchange-earning ventures,” she said.
She commended sponsors of the show for their support which helped them execute the project, saying “they have shown that they are organisations that care and are committed to a better environment for our people and our country.
Ms Cobbah promised a bigger and better GGFS in 2017, which will be the fifth anniversary of the Ghana Garden and Flower Show.
“We have already started planning and we will share our plans with you shortly”, she said and urged all Ghanaians to join the Garden and Flower Movement.
Source: GNA