Horticulture value chain: Leapfrogging with science

Dr. Santiago Tetteh, London, UK
January 04, 2024

T he government of Ghana wants to diversify its export through the development of non-traditional exports, besides oil, cocoa, and minerals. The Horticulture Export and Investment Initiative (HEII) contains the outlines of the government's diversification policy¹. Prominent horticulture products include mango, banana, papaya, orange, passion fruit, and coconut. A domestic industry is emerging which has spun off into processing fresh cut fruits, the production of fruits juice, and dried fruits for export. But, Ghana faces competition from Asia and Latin America and Israel. These countries have a gained competitive advantage through massive investments in research and development in the field of agricultural biotechnology.

Export

In 2021, Ghana exported US$71.8 million worth of tropical fruits. The country exports fresh unprocessed and processed fruits to 32 destinations. This translates into a global market share of 1.7 percent. The United Kingdom (US$39.3 million), Germany (US$12.1 million), and Switzerland (US$7.22 million) are major buyers. France (US$3.54 million) and Morocco (US$1.25 million) are also clients of Ghana².

Export of fruits has doubled over the past two decades. Between 2020 and 2021, Ghana's export of Mangoes grew by 28 percent. The total value of export in 2021 was US$64.6 million compared to US$50. 3 million in 2020. Also, Ghana ranked 11th amongst countries that exported mangoes in 2021. Ghana holds a strong position in pineapple export worth US$29 million in 2021. The EU absorbs 85.8 percent of the country’s export. Belgium alone imported 34.6 percent of the total exports in 2021.

At home, a growing number of companies have branched out into processing. These companies offer fresh-cut fruits, fruit-flavored jam, yogurt, and ice cream to domestic consumers. They also offer powdered products for the catering, pastry, and cosmetic markets. In remote rural areas, raw fruits are cheap sources of natural vitamin C.

Production

Production rose between 2006 (66 000 tons) and 2011 (661 500 tons), but have declined over the last ten years with only a marginal increase within the period in 2017.

Researchers have documented the causes of this gradual decline. They found that orange, papaya, and bananas recorded negative growth in 2018. They noted a steady decline from 2013 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2020³. Drought and the lack of fertilizers explain the reasons for the fall as well as limited access to land and finance and also archaic farming systems.

Authorities have been considering biotechnology as a solution to halt the decline. Proponents of this approach argue that biotechnology could solve the chronic constraints. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) acquiesces. The UN institution explains that ‟yield per hectare is directly related to quality of planting material and level of technology”⁴. Bioscience, research, and development (R&D) activities are helping Philippines, Brazil, Costa Rica and Israel to maintain their lead in the production of pineapple and mangoes. These countries develop, produce and also export, high-yielding, drought-and-disease resistant cultivars.

Markets and prospects

Indonesia, Philippines and Costa Rica lead global pineapple production while China, Indonesia and are the top producers of mango, according the FAO. Ghana has a modest share of the global mango and pineapple market. Investments, research, and bioscience maintain Ghana competitors in the lead⁷ and continuously keeping yield per hectare far above those of Ghana farms⁸. In West Africa, Nigeria is the leader in pineapple and mango production with 800,000 tons of mangos and an annual production of 1.5 million tons for pineapple.

The regional market offers immense export opportunities for Ghana’s agriculture. African trade in agricultural will increase by 30 percent in the next decade, according to the African Trade Policy Center (ATPC)⁹. The World Economic Forum (WEF) is also optimistic about intra-African trade. It projects growth of 574 percent by 2030, if countries remove import tariffs. The WEF describes the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as ‟a victory for a continent historically hobbled by unnecessary reliance on outside economies”. Ghana has integrated AfCFTA in the national trade strategy, opening opportunities for horticulture.

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