The Chief Executive Officer of AgroCenta LLC Francis Obirikorang has urged stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to pay attention to post harvest management.
According to him, solving the challenge of post-harvest losses will reduce risks associated with agriculture.
Mr. Obirikorang who was speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show as part of the on-air series of the Citi Business Festival explained that the most challenging situation for farmers is access to market.
This, he observed, results in farmers selling their produce below the market price as some of the foodstuff also go waste.
“The agricultural value chain is very long. There are problems along the whole value chain. Based on that we found out that the critical problem for farmers was access to market because they were selling to middlemen,” he said.
Mr. Obirikorang stated that the challenge compelled him and his partner to find ways of getting the produce from farmers to warehouses and connecting them to wholesale buyers.
He was of the view that reducing post-harvest losses will not only encourage more people to venture into farming but will reduce the risks associated with the sector, attracting investment.
About AgroCenta
AgroCenta was founded by two ex-Esoko employees, Francis Obirikorang and Michael K. Ocansey in 2015.
According to the company, the aim is to improve the agricultural value chain in Ghana by solving two critical problems rural-based smallholder farmers faced namely, access to market and access to finance, be it formal or informal.