THE largest vegetable farm in West Africa, Maphlix Trust Ghana Limited, at Tadzewu in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region has taken part in the just-ended MACFRUT 2021 fruit and vegetable fair in Rimini, Italy.
MACFRUT is a leading trade fair for professionals operating in national and international fruit and vegetables sectors.
The growing number of Italian and foreign companies participating in the event, the dynamic areas, and a wide range of initiatives aimed at promoting innovation in the sectors internationally are the main features of the event.
The fair covered some 55,000 square metres of exhibition space with various pavilions, about 1,000 exhibitors from Europe Asia and Africa and about 43,500 visitors out of which 25 were foreign.
Briefing the Ghanaian Times soon after his return, Mr Felix Yao M. Kamassah, Chief Executive Officer of Maphlix Trust Ghana Limited, said that the exhibition provided the farm with the appropriate platform to woo more international customers.
“Five companies from the UK, Italy and Germany have expressed interest in our sweet potatoes okra, pepper and other vegetables,” he said.
Those companies would add to other buyers of Maphlix Trust Ghana Limited’s vegetables in Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and France, added Mr Kamassah.
He told the Ghanaian Times that the farm produced 2, 077 tonnes of vegetables in 2020 and had already increased that output to 2, 825 tonnes this year.
He re-affirmed the farm’s stance to employ 400 permanent workers early next year to meet growing demands for its produce from the export and local markets.
The 1,900-hectare estate produces okra, tomato, pepper, chilli, cucumber, various Asian vegetables, cucumber and sweet potato bountifully from both the open field and 40 greenhouse units.
Presently, it has 56 permanent workers and engages an average of 100 casual workers daily.
The trust is now set to build a potato processing factory and pack-house for vegetables, on the farm.
The facility which is scheduled to be completed in January next year would also have a cold room, storage facilities and laboratory among other units, Mr Kamassah said.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, TADZEWU
