A workshop aimed at helping agribusinesses to adopt appropriate produce aggregation models to improve their operations to derive appreciable returns on their investments has been held.

The workshop, organised by the Market Development Programme for Northern Ghana (MADE), was attended by 14 selected agribusinesses operating in the northern part of the country.

Produce aggregation involves post-harvest activities that enable farm produce to reach the ultimate consumers in a good state thus allowing farmers to get good value (good prices) for their efforts.

Mr Augustine Adongo, Team Leader of MADE, who briefed GNA after the workshop in Bolgatanga, said it formed part of interventions being implemented by MADE to contribute to economic transformation of the northern part of the country.

Mr Adongo said produce aggregation offered enhanced benefits for farmers and aggregators as they earned increased profits for their output hence MADE’s intervention to leverage the sector for all players.

He said MADE’s interventions targeted smallholder farmers as well as working with and through the private sector leveraging the incentives and power of businesses to deliver economic benefits to the poor.

He said MADE was working to enable not less than 78,000 smallholder farmers and rural small scale entrepreneurs to experience increased incomes from the operations of the private sector agribusinesses that MADE had partnered with through its Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach.

Mr Ayensu Biney, Managing Director of Karaga ABC, and Mr Alhassan Tampuri, Chief Executive Officer of Excel Bit Com Ltd, who were amongst the participants at the workshop, were optimistic that smallholder farmers could maximise good prices for their produce if aggregators improved their operations in terms of adding value to produce for the end users.

They hope to seek further assistance from MADE in areas of technical services and feasibility studies aimed at exploring further activities as well as consolidating their business in produce aggregation.

MADE is a United Kingdom Agency for International Development (UKaid) funded programme to promote economic growth and reduce poverty in the 63 districts covered by the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority.