AgriFair 2025 concluded successfully at Accra’s Efua Sutherland Children’s Park after three days of high attendance, robust sales, and intensified discussions on Ghana’s agricultural future.
The event, organized by Channel One TV with Citi FM/Citi TV, served as a major convergence point for farmers, agribusinesses, policymakers, researchers, consumers, and development partners.
Minister for Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku delivered a keynote address highlighting Ghana’s reliance on food imports despite possessing fertile land and labour. “We all understand that a hungry man is not a free man,” Opoku stated. “So for us to free our people and give them absolute freedom, we need to produce food in abundance to feed the people of Ghana.”
He identified consumer preference for imported goods as a core challenge, stating, “The biggest challenge that confronts us as a nation is not from the government, it is from the people of Ghana… the Ghanaian consumers will go to the market and choose foreign products against what is produced here.”
Deputy Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Sampson Ahi, announced an upcoming national agribusiness export policy. “We will spell out benefits, advantages that exporters can take,” Ahi confirmed. He noted that President John Dramani Mahama chairs a committee focused on expanding sustainable exports with value addition and structured support.
Beyond policy discussions, the fair showcased innovation and generated significant commerce. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) presented its BBEST project, utilizing Black Soldier Fly larvae to convert waste into animal feed and fertilizer. Technology firms Esoko and Farmerline exhibited communication and support tools for farmers.
Fresh Logistics Limited reported exceptionally strong sales. “Sales were really good on the first day. By around 2 p.m., we had run out of stock and had to quickly refill,” a company representative told The High Street Journal, adding their prices were competitive and distribution network extensive. Volta Catch and Aquaculture Foods drew crowds with innovative tilapia-based snacks, demonstrating value addition potential in fisheries.
Produce vendors across the fairgrounds experienced high demand, restocking leafy greens, tomatoes, eggs, yams, and cassava multiple times. Agric Clinics provided farmers with direct advice from agronomists, vets, and market consultants.
Organizers Channel One TV and Citi FM/Citi TV emphasized the fair’s role beyond sales, aiming to build long-term producer-consumer linkages and promote food security and sustainability. The event concluded with sustained foot traffic, vendor discounts, and entertainment, attended by officials including Deputy Minister John Dumelo, former Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, and former Minister of State Elizabeth Ohene.
AgriFair 2025 underscored the potential for national events to strengthen Ghana’s agricultural ecosystem by bridging policy and practice, technology and tradition, and rural producers with urban consumers, leaving a heightened resolve to address the country’s food production challenges.
