The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Exports Promotion Authority (GEPA), Ms Afua Asabea Asare, has said the authority intends to increase coconut production from the current 49,000 hectares to 300,000 hectares by 2022.
She said currently the Coconut Farmers Association of Ghana (COFAG) was being supported with capacity building training to acquire Global GAP certification to produce to meet the stringent international standards.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Exports Promotion Authority (GEPA), Ms Afua Asabea Asare, has said the authority intends to increase coconut production from the current 49,000 hectares to 300,000 hectares by 2022.
She said currently the Coconut Farmers Association of Ghana (COFAG) was being supported with capacity building training to acquire Global GAP certification to produce to meet the stringent international standards.
The GEPA CEO said the authority was proud to partner African Coconut Group organise the festival on an African soil in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Free Zones and other partners such as the Food and Drugs Authority and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Ms Asare added that in the 2018 performance report of Ghana’s Non-Traditional Exports, the semi-processed and processed sector realised a substantial contribution of 78.53 percent, and that coconut, a cash crop, provided limitless opportunities of derivatives in that sector due to the functional nature of the tree crop.
She stated that with the festival, the narrative of coconut as a functional fruit would be told differently.
“During this festival, be on the lookout for a tall range of innovative products made from coconut in cosmetics, food and beverages, medication, grooming products and handicrafts.
