A new €28.3m project has been launched in Ghana aimed at developing mango orchards over a five-year period, targeting 8,100ha of cultivation across the country.
The National Mango Plantation Project, which is led by the private sector and sponsored by the Export Development and Investment Fund, is expected to produce around 300,000 tonnes of mango at a value of €20m when it is completed, Ghana News Agency reported.
Vice-president John Mahamah said this week that the project would offer up opportunities to the communities taking part in the project, and urged people to take advantage of scheme to help improve their quality of life.
He said that the government would assist farmers in improving productivity and facilitating the development of non-traditional export crops, and explained that the ministry of trade and industry would implement an export marketing and quality awareness project that would help develop the value chain of certain crops.
Under the project, shed nine at the Tema Harbour has been refurbished as a fruit terminal, while sea packhouses are being constructed to enhance the quality of exportable fruits in partnership with the Federation of Association of Ghanaian Exporters, Mr Mahamah added.
