Dutch Deputy Prime Minister on a three-day working visit to Ghana

Company News of Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Source: Chris Koney

2019-02-05

Mrs Carola Schouten, Deputy Prime Minister and Dutch Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, will visit Ghana from 3 to 6 February as part of a working trip to strengthen partnerships between countries and develop new cooperation.

The three-day visit will highlight the role of climate-smart agriculture as a solution to local problems related to climate change, food security and population growth in Ghana. This will be his first visit to an African country as part of his current duties.

The Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products and its agricultural sector is very innovative. The result is a strong presence of the Dutch private sector in Ghana, which contributes to food security through knowledge and skills. Through her visit, Minister Schouten wants to strengthen this relationship. The minister also wants to see how the problem of climate change and food security can be addressed for the growing population of the world.

Minister Schouten's first meeting is with Ghana's Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Owusu Afriyie Akoto. The meeting focuses on strengthening agricultural cooperation between the two countries and discusses the Dutch and Ghanaian vision of the future of agriculture. As Holland is the hub of transit to Europe and Europe being one of Ghana's main export destinations, it is envisaged that the two countries can continue to develop together. The Embbady of the Netherlands in Ghana is already engaged in a multitude of food security programs such as CORIP, SWAPP and Hortifresh, and the Minister will visit these projects in order to be better informed of the challenges and opportunities in Ghana and West Africa.

The minister will also visit Joekopan, a local vegetable producer and exporter who promotes local economic growth with the help of Dutch knowledge and innovation, after which she will visit the Blue Skies factory. . The Minister will organize a ceremony of inauguration of works for the Koudijs factory which will be developed in Tema. In the company of Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, she will deliver a speech on the importance of a quality food for the development of the local poultry sector.

Then Minister Schouten will continue her trip to Côte d'Ivoire where she will meet with her counterparts and the President of the African Development Bank. Minister Schouten will return to the Netherlands from Côte d'Ivoire on February 8th.