Project video
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Sustainable Production of Specialty Horticultural Crops in Ghana for Income Generation and Increased Export Value
Target Country: Ghana
Principal Investigator: James E. Simon, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Collaborators:
- Dan Acquaye and Juliana Asante-Dartey, ASNAPP Ghana
- Professor Charles Quansah, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
- Hector Rodolfo Juliani and Ramu Govindasamy, Rutgers
- Joe-Ann McCoy, North Carolina Arboretum
Project Description
This project expands economic opportunities for small scale farmers in Ghana by enhancing their productivity and deepening market access and participation. The specific objectives of the project include:
- Increasing the production base of important indigenous spices, medicinal plants and horticultural crops including Grains of Paradise, Griffonia and Voacanga and providing employment and income to selected farmers;
- Implementing sustainable collection practices of selected wild harvested NTFPs to generate complementary income;
- Increasing productivity through applied research, improved quality systems and technology transfer;
- Increasing human and enterprise capacities;
- Providing assistance in trade facilitation and market development for regional and export trade.
This project expands activities to an additional 10 communities by supporting 50 farmers to cultivate an additional 40 acres of spices and other non timber forest products. Over 200 collectors are trained to sustainably collect about 60 MT of selected wild harvested medicinal plants. Direct jobs are created for 250 farmers/collectors (100 women and 150 men) with income of over $232,000 generated.
