Accra, Aug. 11, GNA - A seven-member bevy of experienced chefs, draw= n from some of the best hotels in the country, is to participate in this year's Bidvest World Chefs Tour Against Hunger scheduled for 20th to the 31st of this month in South Africa (SA).

Seven South African cities; Johannesburg, Pretoria, Vaal, Mombela, Eas= t London, Cape Town and Durban, will host the world event. The event, which is an initiative of the World Association of Chefs Societies Congress (WACS), will showcase signature dishes of the countries of participants to people from all walks of life with the aim to raise over four million SA rands to support the Hunger Project for the next five years= .. This year's event, which will be attended by 50 out of the 98 WACS member countries, is the 13th in the series and the Ghana team, through the Ghana Chefs Association (GCA), has been invited to participate in it for th= e first time, following its (GCA) winning of a gold prize in a continental competition in 2005 for serving the best meal, which was Gari Fotor (a meal made from gritted cassava).

Some of the participating countries include Australia, England, Kenya, Wales, United States of America and Malta. Mr Stephen Dzilah, President of the GCA, who announced this at a press briefing in Accra on Thursday, said as per the invitation, the Ghanaian tea= m had been requested to showcase Ghana's signature dishes for the first fou= r days of the event. Mr Dzilah said the invitation was historic in the sense that it presented the GCA with an opportunity to showcase unique Ghanaian signature dishes to the international community, which had the potential to attract more tourists to the country. He called on all to promote local dishes by savouring them because the= y were the best in the world. He also called on all especially, the government, through the Ministry of Tourism, to support GCA since its activities were relevant to the country's tourism industry.

Mrs Stella Apenteng, Board Member of the Ghana Tourist Board, who deputized for Mr Edem Kpodo, Chairman of the Board, underscored the important roles chefs played in the development of the country's tourism industry and wished the team well in the event.

Mrs Apenteng urged the chefs to prepare and showcase the unique Ghanaian dishes to place the country on the international map of good dishe= s so that Ghanaian dishes could be served in various parts of the world. The Ghanaian team is being sponsored by the World Bank and Promasidor Ghana Limited, producers of Cowbell and ONGA. As part of the sponsorship, Promasidor Ghana Limited presented packets of assorted ingredients to the team and a cheque for GHc 5000 to purchase air tickets. Meanwhile, WACS has chosen Ghana to host the 2013 edition of the event and Mr Dzilah assured that preparations were ongoing to ensure successful hosting of the world event.