FDA PARTICIPATES IN THE PRE-HARVEST AGRIBUSINESS EXIBITION AND CONFERENCE

A two day' event organized by Agrihouse foundation and titled "10th Pre-harvest agribusiness exhibition and conference" was attended by representatives of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA). This year's event took place at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale from the 7th to the 8th of October, 2020.

The event which has been organized since a decade ago has been patronized by various stakeholders or agencies such as FDA, Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), National Board for Small Scale Industry (NBSSI), Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA), Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) among others.

The key goals of the event were, to connect actors, build capital through training, link buyers to farmers, project actors within and across the value chain and to provide an avenue for participants, exhibitors and agribusiness owners to network and forge business relationships.

The various stakeholders who sponsored the events were the European Union, Yara Ghana Limited, Ecobank, European Union-Ghana Agriculture Programme, Agricultural Development Bank, Northern Regional Coordinating Council and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Representatives of the Northern Regional office of the FDA who took part in the event had a lot of interactions with various stakeholders during the event. Also, interactions were made with a number of entrepreneurs especially the processors of cereals, such as rice, maize, sorghum, millet etc.

Staff of the FDA took the opportunity to educate processors, visitors and entrepreneurs who are into food processing, cosmetic products as well as herbal products. Representatives of the FDA also scouted for unregistered products and advised owners to take advantage of the flexible condition offered by the FDA to clients for smooth registration of products within a shortest possible time. Flyers, brochures and other handbooks about food safety protocols were also distributed to clients.

Five Hundred and Eighty-Nine (589) groups including groups of Small-Scale Enterprises interacted with the representatives of the FDA. Also, some individuals who came willingly to make enquires were duly educated. The event saw the education of a total of Nine Hundred and Fourteen (914) participants who visited FDA Exhibition stand.