Ghana to host International Organic Agriculture Conference
Ghana will host the fifth West African Organic Conference (WAOC) in Accra from November 12 to 15, 2019 to enable stakeholders within the organic agriculture value chains to share knowledge, experiences and ideas on how to grow the industry.
The Conference is being organised by the Ecological Organic Agriculture Platform of Ghana (EOAP – G) and the West African Organic Network (WAfrONet) under the auspices of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and Market Oriented Agriculture Programme (GIZ-MOAP) among other partners.
It is under the theme “Organic Agriculture – Life for All” and is expected to attract more than 300 participants, made up of policy makers, organic farmers, producers, agro input entrepreneurs, organic food processors and traders of certified organic commodities, national, regional and international organic agriculture organisations and associations and academia.
Papers will be presented on Researches undertaken in Organic Agriculture, Innovative Technologies, Livestock, Market & Business and Inputs and Policies. An Organic Trade Exhibition will also be held as part of the conference.
Dr. De Fenzy Schandorf, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of WAOC and President of the Ecological Organic Agricultural Platform of Ghana (EOAP-G), said the objective of the conference was to showcase the potential of organic agriculture in the transformation of national and regional economies, ecologies and livelihoods through income growth, quality food production and sovereignty, climate change adaptation and trade.
“There are global concerns about the quality of agricultural produce and its impact on the health and wellbeing of consumers as well as the environment. The conference seeks to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, information, experiences and skills among stakeholders in the organic sector to impact the transformation of national and continental economies,” Dr. Schandorf added.
The Chairman encouraged local and international agriculture industry players and entrepreneurs to participate in the conference and exhibition to benefit from the valuable platform that will be created to stimulate increased organic food production as well as national, regional and international trade
Dr Elke Stumpf, Head of the Market Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP), one of the programmes from the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), said GIZ was happy to partner with EOAP-G to organise the conference to create increased knowledge about organic agriculture and promote its cultivation as well as drive patronage.
Source: GNA