GhanaVeg Export Report

Export Vegetable Sector in Ghana
Identifying opportunities for development

Yeray Saavedra Gonzalez – Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen UR
Youri Dijkxhoorn – LEI, Wageningen UR
Peter Obeng – Ghana Export Promotion Authority
Piet Schotel – Independent Dutch consultant
The GhanaVeg Program

GhanaVeg believes in healthy and quality vegetables from
Ghana through new ways of doing business. GhanaVeg supports
frontrunner companies in the vegetables sector with business infor-
mation, contacts and can provide hands-on assistance in setting up
or expanding your company.
Wageningen UR
Wageningen UR is a university and research centre in the Netherlands
that focusses specifically on the theme ‘healthy food and living envi-
ronment’. Wageningen UR has a staff of 6,500 and 10,000 students
from over 100 countries work everywhere around the world for
governments and the business community-at-large.
This research was funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Accra, Ghana
Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen, September 2014
Confidential | Report CDI-14-021
© 2014 Wageningen UR.
GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec1:1 2015.06.09. 13:38:34

Saavedra Gonzalez, Y.R., Y. Dijkxhoorn, P. Obeng, P. Schotel, 2014. Ghana Export Vegetable Chain; Identifying
opportunities for development. Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen UR (University & Research centre).
Report CDI-14-021. Wageningen.
Abstract UK: The export vegetable sector in Ghana is going through difficult times. Structural challenges coupled with
doubtful phytosanitary status of exported vegetables threaten the viability of the sector in years to come. However,
turning current vegetable production into a more commercial, market-driven export production may re-invigorate
and serve as an impulse for the sector.
Keywords: Vegetables, Ghana, export sector, business opportunities, private sector
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Confidential | Report CDI-14-021
Photo cover: GhanaVeg secretariat team

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 4.3 The EU market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Abbreviations & Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 4.3.1 The EU market for vegetables. . . . . . . . . .19
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 4.3.2 Vegetable trade between Ghana and the
1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 European Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 4.3.3 Chilli pepper trade in the European Union 20
1.2 Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 4.3.4 The UK vegetable market . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
1.3 Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 4.3.5 The Dutch market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
1.4 Reading guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 4.4 EU Buyer requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
2. Vegetable production in Ghana. . . . . . . 10 4.4.1 Legal requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
2.1 Agriculture in the economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 4.4.2 Non legal requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
2.2 Vegetable production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 4.5 Economic Partnership Agreement . . . . . . . . . .24
2.2.1 Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 5. Benchmark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2.2 Asian vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
3. The export value chain . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5.2 Chillies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
3.1 The value chain map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 5.2.1 India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
3.2 Actors and activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 5.2.2 Uganda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
3.2.1 Farmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 5.2.3 Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
3.2.2 Traders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 5.2.4 Benchmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
3.2.3 Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 5.3 Okra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
3.2.4 Wholesaler/importers in UK . . . . . . . . . .15 5.4 Bitter gourd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
3.2.5 Services and inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 6. SWOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.3 Enabling environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 7. Opportunities and conclusions . . . . . . . 31
3.3.1 Essential enablers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 7.1 Strategic directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
3.3.2 Other enablers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 7.2 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
4. The market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
4.1 The domestic market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Annex 1. List of interviewed stakeholders . . . . . . . . .34
4.1.1 Supermarkets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Annex 2. Selected Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
4.1.2 Local markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Annex 3. Cost price calculation chilli pepper . . . . . . .36
4.1.3 Corner shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Annex 4. Cost price calculation okra . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
4.1.4 Wholesale traders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Annex 5. Cost price calculation bitter gourd. . . . . . . .38
4.2 The regional market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Annex 6. List of vegetable exporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Annex 7. List of major importers of vegetables in EU 41

4 | Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the GhanaVeg Secretariat team for its on-ground support to conduct the field work phase
in the best possible way and the valuable inputs given during the development of the present report. Our gratitude
also goes out to all stakeholders who took the time off to answer our questions. In particular, our appreciation
goes to Mr. GS Dhillon, Mrs. Opuni, Mr. Satheesan and Mr. Cheema for speaking openly and freely about their
businesses and the challenges facing the export vegetable sector.

Abbreviations & Acronyms | 5
Abbreviations & Acronyms

AgDevCo . . . .Africa Agricultural Development HS . . . . . . . . .Harmonized system
Company IECD . . . . . . . .Import and Export Control Department
CBI . . . . . . . . .Centre for the Promotion of Imports of the Food and Drugs Authority
from Developing Countries ISO . . . . . . . . .International Organization for
CDI . . . . . . . . .Centre for Development Innovation, Standardization
Wageningen UR KIA . . . . . . . . .Kotoka International Airport
CPDM . . . . . .Diseases Management Division LEI . . . . . . . . .Agricultural Economics Research
DEFRA . . . . . .Department for Environment, Food and Institute, , Wageningen UR
Rural Affairs, UK. MoFA . . . . . . .Ministry of Food and Agriculture
ECOWAS . . . .Economic Community of West African NACOB. . . . . .Narcotics Control Board officials
States NPPO . . . . . . .National Plant Protection Organization
EDAIF . . . . . . .Export trade, Agricultural & Industrial PPRSD . . . . . .Plant Protection and Regulatory Services
development Fund Directorate
EKN . . . . . . . .Embassy of the Kingdom of the PQD . . . . . . . .Quarantine Division and Crop Pests
Netherlands SWOT. . . . . . .Strengths, weaknesses, threats and
EPA . . . . . . . .Economic partnership agreement opportunities
EU . . . . . . . . .European Union UK . . . . . . . . .United Kingdom
FDA . . . . . . . .Food and Drugs Authority Wageningen UR . . . . . Wageningen University &
FFV . . . . . . . . .Fresh fruits and Vegetables Research centre
GCAP . . . . . . .Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project WTO. . . . . . . .World trade organization
GDP . . . . . . . .Gross Domestic Product

Summary | 7
Summary
FINDINGS In the light of the report’s findings, authors suggest the
The export vegetable sector in Ghana is going through following ’sector plan’ to address the burning issues
difficult times. The number of exporters and the of the sector.
exported quantity of vegetables has decreased in 1. Dedicate efforts to apply good agri-
recent years. Structural challenges threaten the viability cultural practices for the production of
of the sector in years to come. In addition to this, recent vegetables with special attention to okra
export bans imposed by the Government of Ghana has and bitter gourd. In addition, recognize
left the sector very vulnerable. And who suffers most the importance of, and assign resources
of these drawbacks in the export vegetable sector are to, the sanitary and phytosanitary status
the exporters. Two types of exporters can be identified of (export) crops.
based on their business model: A) Integrated setup:
Lack of adequate agricultural practices hampers
Company grows, transports and markets the fresh
the export of vegetables from Ghana. As a conse-
produce in UK. Companies hold a wide portfolio of
quence, DEFRA at the UK border rejects shipments
(Asian) vegetables. B) Trader-type: Smaller exporters
for the reason of trips infestation or fruit flies infes-
buy fresh produce and ship them by air to UK
tation. Improved crop management in the growing
importers. Their trading activity takes place on an ad
areas must work towards a reduction of pest and
hoc basis. Overall, the sector lies largely in the hands of
disease incidences and increased product quality.
the A type of exporter (4 in total).
2. Facilitate efficient use of available cargo
The main exported vegetables from Ghana are the
space, handling and use of cold store.
Ghanaian green chilli followed by far by okra, bitter
gourd, ravaya and turia. Unlike the other vegetables No discussion with stakeholders left out the issue
exported to UK, Ghanaian chilli holds a considerable of air freight. This includes handling, forwarding
share of the UK market as compared to other non-EU and phyto checks. We propose a thorough analysis
chili producing countries. It is worth to note that of the situation and support the entities concerned
90 percent of the chilli imported into the UK comes with optimised terms in the handling airfreight
from other EU countries. In terms of business value, situation.
the Ghanaian chilli totals USD 3.8 million, more than 3. Develop essential post-harvest manage-
any other chilli producing country outside EU. The ment skills which will lead to desired
reasons of being well-positioned in the UK market is product uniformity and quality. Both
a favourable market window (April through October) aspects become key when targeting EU
which coincides with the dry season in India, the main supermarkets. GlobalG.A.P. becomes the
competitor. minimum entry requirement to penetrate
However, findings suggest that investing in chili to these markets.
further strengthen the sector might not fetch the We foresee potential opportunities for uniform and
desired results as the profit margin is limited. high quality produce in high-end EU supermarkets.
Investing in okra or bitter gourd, on the other hand, In a visit paid to some of the largest supermarket
could deliver higher returns. chains in the UK, we came across a wide variety of
chillies and Asian vegetables like okra.

Needless to say, exporters dealing with super- GhanaVeg an export sector study was commis-
markets of the calibre of Tesco or Sainsbury are sioned and carried out by researchers at the Centre
required to present GlobalG.A.P. certification or for Development Innovation (CDI) and the Agriculture
equivalent. Hence, obtaining third-party certifica- Economics Institute (LEI), both institutions belonging
tion on farm/value chain practices may serve as an to the Wageningen University and Research Centre in
entry point for new, high-end markets. the Netherlands. A local consultant and a seasoned
4. Promote public-private partnerships with external expert also contributed to the development of
clear accountability and reliable use the present report.
of irrigation schemes to supply all year
OBJECTIVE
round volumes. Ghana is well endowed
with water resources. In theory, the use The initial objective of this study was to describe the
of irrigation schemes can provide year- current export value chain and to identify viable
round production and therefore supply business opportunities to sustain and scale up Ghana’s
the market with constant volumes. vegetable export sector. However, due to the latest
developments of the sector in Ghana the objective of
Higher production in the dry season would the report shifted more towards formulating a sector
provide exporters an opportunity to expand the plan to address structural challenges encountered on
market boundaries and explore novel buying the ground and articulating a number of follow-up
relations with importers from the UK or elsewhere activities to take up.
(i.e. the Netherlands).
METHODS
BACKGROUND
Researchers have used the following methods to meet
This report is the result of a consultancy study GhanaVeg’s objective:
conducted under the auspices of GhanaVeg. Funded
by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands  Desk study
in Accra, the initiative intends to ‘establish a sustain-  Value chain analysis
able and internally competitive vegetable sector
 Export market analysis
that contributes to inclusive economic growth and
has the capacity to continuously innovate in terms of  Benchmark analysis.
products and services’. To help accomplish the goals of For more details on the methods used see 1.3.

1. Introduction | 9
1. Introduction
1.1 Background importers and wholesalers in the United Kingdom and
the Netherlands to assess the position of Ghanaian
Development of the horticultural sector can contribute vegetables in the export market. In Annex 1 an overview
to poverty reduction, sustainable growth and can offer of the interviewed stakeholders is presented.
opportunities for the Dutch private sector. Research
done by LEI Wageningen UR provides evidence on We have used the interviews and an additional
the positive association between cash crops and food workshop with industry stakeholders to come up with
security (https://www.wageningenur.nl/en/newsarticle/ an estimation of an average cost prices at different
Cash-crops-enhance-food-security.htm). levels in the value chain of a variety of crops. We
analysed these figures in order to come up with margin
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands indicators per actor in the chain and to identify the
(EKN) in Ghana supports the horticultural sector in economic prospects of each crop.
Ghana and has prioritised commercial agriculture in
its 4-year Multi-Annual Strategic Plan (2014–2017). Based on our findings we have developed an overview
As a result, the EKN has funded GhanaVeg to establish of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
‘a sustainable and internationally competitive vegetable threats (SWOT).
sector that contributes to inclusive economic growth Drawing from interviews with various stakeholders in
and has the capacity to continuously innovate in the vegetable export sector, we selected three priority
terms of products and services’. An important aspect crops with the greatest market potential:
of the initiative is to support the development of the
vegetable export market.  Ghanaian green chillies (Genus capsicum):
The importance of this crop brought all stake-
holders to a consensus. The future of the vegetable
1.2 Objective export sector will depend largely on the continuity
The overall objective of this study is to describe the and stability of the chilli market in Europe;
current export value chain and to identify viable
 Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus): A favourite
business opportunities to sustain and scale up Ghana’s
in the Indian and Asian cuisine;
vegetable export sector.
 Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L): This
1.3 Method crop is very popular throughout the South Asian
and North Indian cuisine.
In order to drive export growth, this analysis will focus
on three research areas:
1.4 Reading guide
 Value chain analysis
In Chapter 2 we will give an overview of the importance
 Export market analysis
of agriculture in Ghanaian economy and the main
 Benchmark analysis.
vegetable crops produced in Ghana are presented.
For this research a desk study has been carried out. Chapter 3 maps the value chain and the main stake-
We have analysed relevant literature and secondary holders. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 present the markets
data sources such as trade and production statistics. and compare the position of Ghana with a number of
In addition, we have organised a 1-week field visit competitors. Chapter 5 presents the SWOT. We end
in Ghana to interview stakeholders in the export this report with the way forward and conclusions. 
chain. Furthermore, we have interviewed a number of

10 | 2. Vegetable production in Ghana
2. Vegetable production in
Ghana
2.1 Agriculture in the 2.2 Vegetable production
economy 2.2.1 Vegetables
Agriculture is Ghana’s most important economic sector,
The area for vegetable production accounts for about
employing 56% of the total population on a formal and
78,000 hectares. Main crops are tomatoes, green
informal basis and accounting for 22% of GDP.
chillies and onions. Also eggplants and okra are
Gold is a major export commodity for Ghana, with produced in Ghana. Okra includes both the Asian
this precious metal bringing in nearly 36% of the type and the local African type. The area dedicated
country’s revenue. The annual inflow of capital from to vegetable production increased in the mid-1990s
crude oil and natural gas production into Ghana and dropped after 2003. The entire drop can be
began from the first quarter of 2011, when Ghana attributed to an enormous drop in fresh chili produc-
started producing crude oil and natural gas in large tion which could be partly caused by a shift in the
quantities. Still, the agricultural sector like the export farming systems from irrigation to rain fed schemes.
of cocoa and pineapple contributes close to 30% of Nevertheless, researchers point to unreliable data as
the total export (2012). the most likely explanation for the massive slump in
By far the most important horticultural crops produced for the pepper acreage.
export are pineapples, mangoes and yams (Figure 2.2). Another way to explain the evolution of the vegetable
sector in Ghana is to look at the production (in tonnes)
Figure 2.1 Export composition of Ghana (x 1,000 USD) throughout the years. Fresh chili and Okra produc-
Source: Comtrade.
tion have declined slightly from its peak in the 1990s.
20,000,000 Tomato or eggplants production, on the other hand,
18,000,000 have increased over the last two decades.¹
16,000,000
14,000,000 Figure 2.2 Exported value of mangoes, pineapples and
12,000,000 yams (x 1,000 USD)
10,000,000 *2012 data for yams seems is n.a. Source: Comtrade.
8,000,000
6,000,000 20,000
18,000 Manioc,
4,000,000 arrowroot salem
16,000
2,000,000 (yams) etc.
14,000
0 12,000 Pineapples,
05
06
07
08
20 9
10
11
12
fresh or dried
0
10,000
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
8,000 Guavas, mangoes

Other sectors 6,000 and mangosteens,
‘18 Cocoa and cocoa preparations 4,000 fresh or dried
’08 Edible fruit, nuts, peel of citrus fruit, melons 2,000
0
‘27 Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products, etc.
07
08
20 9
10
11
12
06
05
0
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
’71 Pearls, precious stones, metals, coins, etc.
¹For more details on the evolution of the crop area, yield and vegetable production in Ghana consult Annex 2.

2. Vegetable production in Ghana | 11
Figure 2.3 Area (ha) of vegetable harvested in Ghana Figure 2.4 Production of vegetables in tonnes in Ghana
Source: FAO STAT. Source: FAO STAT.
1999
90,000 180,000
2003
1997
1999
80,000 160,000
2001
2011
1997
70,000 140,000
2009
2003
2005
2001
2005
60,000 120,000
1995
2007
1991
1993
1995
2007
1991
100,000
1993
2011
50,000
2009
40,000 80,000
30,000 60,000
20,000 40,000
10,000 20,000
0 0
Others Onions, dry Eggplants (aubergines) Others Eggplants (aubergines) Chillies and peppers, green
Tomatoes Okra Chillies and peppers, green Okra Onions, dry Tomatoes
2.2.2 Asian vegetables Annual okra production accounts for 60,000 tons, but
In Ghana, the Asian vegetables and chillies were intro- this is mainly related to the African type okra. This okra
duced by Indian immigrants in the early 90s. Among (also called ‘okro’ or ‘gumbo’) is different compared to
the most important Asian vegetables produced in the Asian okra and therefore not suitable for exporta-
Ghana are okra, ravaya, bitter gourd and garden egg. tion. Both crops have seen a significant drop in area,
These products are consumed by Asian communities many farmers stopped producing vegetables due to
overseas and this is referred to as the ethnic market. the increased costs for production and challenges they
experience to access the EU market.
The Asian vegetables are all produced either to the
west and northwest of Accra, within 50 km of the city, Other relevant Asian vegetables for their market
or to the east of Accra, towards the Togo border and in demand are ravaya or small aubergine, Turia, tropical
the vicinity of the Akosombo dam and the Volta River. vine classified in the Cucurbitaceous family and bitter
gourd, also from the Cucurbitaceous family.
The total production in 2012 of chillies accounted for
110,000 tons (Table 2.1). The most commonly produced There is a major seasonality challenge for Ghana especially
chilli is the Ghana green chilli (Legon 18 variety). Also for crops that are grown in areas under rain-fed condi-
Scotch Bonnet and Bird’s Eye chillies are produced, but tions. This causes a significant drop in production volume
in small quantities. Nowadays, most chillies are produced during the dry season (Table 2.2). The table below shows
under rain-fed conditions without irrigation systems. the availably of selected products in Ghana.
Table 2.1 Area of selected Asian vegetable production Table 2.2 Availability of selected vegetables
(in ha) and production (tons).
D ec Jan
2001 2011 2012 Feb
v
No
Area Prod Area Prod Area Prod a

ter Okr
Chillies & 81,105 191,049 13,400 95,000 13,700 110,000 Bitourd
Marc
Oc t
g
peppers,
h
Chilli, pepper
green
Sept
April
Okra 16,692 122,956 2,800 55,000 3,000 60,000

Eggplants 2,730 13,098 5,500 42,000 6,000 46,000 g
Ma
Au
y
(aubergine) July June

12 | 3. The export value chain
3. The export value chain

3.1 The value chain map Trading relationships with importers in the UK take
place on an ad hoc basis.
Harnessed by four large exporters² with a long track
record in exports from Ghana, the vegetable export The following figure depicts the overall organisation of
sector in Ghana has faced ups and downs. It is fair to the vegetable sector per step.
recognise that those exporters, who started exporting
to the UK in the early 1990s, are responsible for most 3.2 Actors and activities
of the vegetable exported over the last years.
3.2.1 Farmers
They were the main beneficiaries at the time when
the sector exported 30–40 tons of vegetables a day Smallholder farming households cultivate most of the
and are now who suffer most from the decline in the traditional agricultural production in Ghana. About
business (down to 4–5 tons/day). These exporters 90% of the farms are less than 2 ha in size (MoFA, 2010).
have an integrated set up in place by which they grow Since access to machinery (technology) and irrigation
vegetables locally and market them in the UK through schemes remain absent for most of the smallholders,
consolidated sales networks. crop production varies with the amount and distribution
of rainfall. In this regard, Ghana has two seasons: the
The vegetable export sector in Ghana also has a wet and dry season. The latter season stretches from
number of smaller exporters without a nucleus farm October through February.
and exporting no more than 1 or 2 tons per week.
Figure 3.1 Vegetable export chains in Ghana.
Extension
Financial services OUTGROWERS EXPORTER
Input supply, seeds, labour, water GROWERS FARMER (Organized by
OWNING A
region)
Accreditation (Global GAP FARM
Underway in some farms) Transport
REGULAR EXPORTER/ Packing Aggregators/

TRADERS AGGREGATOR facilities intermediary Transport
(no pack)
Reception at Ground hand-
the airport ling companies OWN
EXPORT FROM DISTRIBUTION
GOVERNMENTAL GHANA/ AIR FREIGHT Drug control CHANNEL
BODIES/ IMPORT IN UK
LEGISLATION UK’s customs
WHOLESALERS located in: – Western International Market (London)
– Spitalfields Market (London)
WHOLESALERS – New covent garden (some) (London)
– West Midlands (Birmingham)
SHOP KEEPERS, and to a lesser extent restaurants and hotels

RETAILERS AND
CONSUMERS
ETHNIC CONSUMERS (UK)
²Main vegetable exporters to date are Srighan Farms LTD., Joekopan Enterprise, Param Farms and Dhillon Group of Companies.

3. The export value chain | 13
The following table indicates the cost price and margin Farmers that cultivate okra have a production of about
for a typical Ghanaian farmer producing green chilli, 900 boxes (4,050 kg) per acre with an average revenue
okra and bitter gourd. Data was collected during the of GHS 7,000. Total cost price is estimated at GHS 3,800.
export study’s workshop held in Accra with different The average profit that farmers fetch from 1 acre is
stakeholders. therefore GHS 3,370.
As emerges from the table below, farmers producing Table 3.3 Estimated cost price per acre of okra
okra and bitter gourd earn a bigger margin as compared production in GHS in EUR
to green chilli. The production of chilli is labour
Min Max Average Average
intensive, with low input costs, resulting in limited
(GHS) (GHS) (GHS) (EUR)
profitability. Okra and bitter gourd seem to fetch better
margins despite the high seed costs. Annex 3 gives a Revenues 7,200 7,200 7,200 1,480
complete overview of the different costs throughout the Costs 3,120 4,540 3,830 790
value chain for all crops including a range (min-max). Margin 4,080 2,660 3,370 690
Table 3.1 Average cost prices of 3 main irrigated crops Bitter gourd cultivation yields on average more than
per box of 4.5 kg 1,200 boxes or 5,400 kg per acre. This makes an
average revenue of GHS 14,400. Estimated costs are only
Item Chilli Bitter
Okra GHS 4,700 per acre, hence average margins are high
pepper gourd
at GHS 9,705 per acre.
Farm gate price per box 7.0 8.0 12.0
(GHS) Table 3.4 Estimated cost price per acre of bitter gourd
Total costs per box (GHS) 5.0 4.3 3.9 production in GHS in EUR
Seed costs share (%) 2 8 21 Min Max Average Average
Water and irrigation (%) 13 21 17 (GHS) (GHS) (GHS) (EUR)
Labour (%) 65 45 42 Revenues 14,400 14,400 14,400 2,960
Other costs (%) 20 26 19 Costs 3,900 5,490 4,695 970
Farmers margin in GHS 2.0 3.7 8.1 Margin 10,500 8,910 9,705 1,990
Margin share (%) 28 47 67
3.2.2 Traders
On average farmers produce about 1,000 boxes with
As it happens in other African countries, the role of the
chilli pepper from an acre (about 4,500 kg). This results
vegetable traders in Ghana is often obscured and hard
in a total revenue of about GHS 7,000. With an average
to pinpoint. We consider two basic models:
cost price of GHS 5,000 per acre a farmer can make
almost GHS 2,000. a) Large exporters with own land and, besides this,
often work with a large number of growers under
Table 3.2 Estimated cost price per acre of chilli simple, (in)formal seasonal production contracts.
production in GHS in EUR These few exporters serve specialised (ethnic) market
Min Max Average Average segments in which Asian vegetables and chillies are in
(GHS) (GHS) (GHS) (EUR) high demand. Within this market segment GlobalG.A.P.
Revenues 7,000 7,000 7,000 1,440
or other forms of certification are not (yet) required.
As of late, a number of exporters have experienced
Costs 4,660 5,430 5,045 1,040 hardship due to problems with their produce’s
Margin 2,340 1,570 1,955 400 phytosanitary condition upon entering the UK market.

Latest development on the sector at the time of writing as possible for their clients, before becoming unfit for
For the most part of 2014 DEFRA has repeatedly found consumption. This fact becomes more important if we
evidence of trips in the aubergines produced in Ghana. consider the vegetables’ shelf life of around 3–5 days at
This and other organisms identified by the British best. Under normal conditions, the chillies are on the
Agency raised serious concerns among Ghanaian shelf in Europe the day after harvest.
authorities over the country’s exports. For this reason, At the border, the driver conveys the cargo to the scanner
the Ghanaian Government has placed a three-month with all pertinent documents in hand. Once goods have
ban on the export of vegetables to Europe, starting gone through, the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB)
August 2014. This period serves the Government to officers from the Import and Export Control Department
think through this issue and its consequences and (IECD) of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) inspect the
also ‘blacklist’ malpractice in the sector. Ultimately, shipments thoroughly. Often, the inspection at this point
government would like to introduce stricter systems to has caused an important clearance delay because of
control export commodities. the time taken by inspectors. Delay can exceed minutes
b) Small-scale exporters with no land and reliance on or hours. From there, ground handling operators will
smallholders’ produce gathered through informal handle the product from the cargo premises through a
trading relationships. second scanner and into the airplane.
As opposed to the first scheme, exporters here lack Often, the time to clear a shipment exceeds that of
land of their own and hence their activity is reduced the airlines to load the cargo. This causes airlines to
to sourcing from smallholders and/or aggregators depart without the shipment. On these occasions cargo
who might gather produce on their behalf. Overall, is stored in the open air under plastics and forwarded
no formal agreements with farmers are in place. in the next day’s flight. By contrast, Air Ghana, one of
Furthermore, exporters interviewed also emphasised the cargo handling companies at KIA, manages the
the lack of access to finance, which in turn jeopardises only cold chain facility which usually remains unused.
the relation with their clients in the UK. This deteriora- Another problem the exporters face is the lack of cargo
tion of the trust between the parties is one of the key space available. The following table reviews the airlines
challenges to the survival of the sector, according to and tariffs available for export of fresh produce.
small-scale exporters.
Table 3.5 Airlines and tariffs available for export
3.2.3 Transport Source: Exports Authority (2014).
Once the produce has been harvested (early in the Day of the Freight rate Destination
morning), sorted, graded and packed (if applicable), week for per kg in USD
open, non-cooled trucks carry the fresh produce to the departure
Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra. It is worth Passenger Planes
emphasising the lack of infrastructure developed to
service the cold-chain needs of the vegetables at a KLM Daily 1.25-1.45 Amsterdam
farm and logistical level in Ghana to this day. While British Airways Daily 1.00-1.10 Heathrow
exporters realise the potential value of vegetable Lufthansa Daily 1.30 Frankfurt
cooling, they point out the financial investment needed Turkish Airline Daily 1.15 Istanbul
as a major factor hampering the introduction of such TAP Portugal Mon-Fri 1.20 Lisbon
technology in vegetable chains. Alitalia Mon-Fri 1.20
The starting premise is that drivers must get to the Cargo Planes
airport on time for the shipment to be loaded onto
Cargo Lux Tue 0.98–1.00 Luxemburg
the planes the same day. The reason for this is simple:
wholesalers in the UK require the shipment to be as fresh Turkish Airlines Sat & Mon 1.10 Istanbul

Exporters report that limited cargo space is available their agreements. However, we remain doubtful about
at an affordable price on the regular passenger flights, the ins and outs of the actual models in place and other
which causes uncertainty for the supply of goods, considerations attached to it (i.e. price or volume).
timely delivered at the UK retailers. According to Other importers with weaker commercial ties to
exporters, available space has become limited due to Ghana, in the best case scenario, only have green
high cargo handling prices. Cargo handling companies chillies (often bought from Dhillon farms). Therefore,
would buy cargo space and then sell it at a higher much of the Ghanaian produce found in the UK today
price to exporters. This is to be confirmed by cargo has, either indirectly or directly, passed through the
companies involved. hands of Dhillon farms.
All in all, the combination of above factors reduces
the reliability of the Ghanaian produce in the inter- 3.2.5 Services and inputs
national market. The general notion in Ghana is that farmers have
received some agricultural (horticultural) training
3.2.4 Wholesaler/importers in UK³ at some point. This, according to some of the stake-
Fresh horticulture produce from all over the world holders interviewed, should be enough for farmers to
can be found in any of the three major wholesale undertake good agricultural practices. However, if we
markets in London: Western International Market, consider the obtained yields as a proxy for the current
New Spitalfield Market and New Covent Market. Of all production skills, the answer is not very encouraging.
those vegetables, we can normally find from Ghana: Of course, there are more factors to the production of
green chillies, yams (this one crop falls out of the vegetables: quality inputs, availability of labour, soil
scope of this research), and to a much lesser extent, fertility or water availability, to cite some examples.
ravaya, okra, turia and bitter gourd, among others. With regard to inputs, the everyday vegetable farmer
The major importer of Ghanaian vegetables by volume normally uses farm-saved seed with hardly any entry
in the UK, Dhillon Farms, holds also the largest variety of commercial seeds, let alone readily available hybrid
of products. The success in its business operation seeds. The situation changes as far as out-growers are
lies on the production side. By owning a nucleus concerned. Major exporters claim to provide regularly
farm in the country and having in place agreements certified green chilli seeds to farmers. This also applies
with a number of out-growers, Dhillon farms is in a to crops that are less important in terms of area
position to manage the flow of products coming to the planted such as okra, turia and bitter gourd. In these
UK according to the demand. Once the produce is in cases the certified seed is expensive and difficult to get
the UK, the company distributes and sells it through its by farmers on their own.
three wholesale stands.
Central to all stakeholders is the use of chemicals,
Other exporters of similar size and business models availability and appropriateness of both fertiliser and
are Shrigam farms and Param farms. A different chemicals for vegetable production. Farmers have diffi-
business model is operated by Joekopan farm, in culties purchasing affordable and reliable chemicals
which out-growers and nucleus farm (said to come into that match their needs. Another factor adding to this
production in 2014) produce vegetables to meet the challenge is the use (or lack thereof) of personal
demands of independent importers in the UK. protective equipment. Farmers seem to overlook the
Little is known about the contractual agreements importance of having safety protocols and protecting
between farmers and companies. Some exporters talk themselves against hazardous products.
about out-grower models to refer to the formality of
³See Annex 6 for full list of vegetable exporters in Ghana

Furthermore, some exporters question the effectiveness 3.3.1 Essential enablers

of the chemicals used in light of the recent reports from
DEFRA flagging the presence of trips and fruit flies in Trade policy
produce coming from Ghana. Ghana’s trade sector is governed by four main trade
agreements and related protocols:
3.2.6 End-product
I. The WTO Agreements;
Large exporters sort, grade and pack the produce in
carton boxes of 5 kg (4.5 kg of fresh produce) each. II. Agreements between the African, Cariban and
A common complaint by exporters is the lack of Pacific states (ACP) and the European Union are to
reputable companies in carton packing in Ghana. This be arranged in the ACP-EU Economic Partnership
makes exporters less competitive due to quality decline Agreement (EPA);
(inadequate packing) and higher production costs III. Economic Community of West African States
(little carton available for all exporters). (ECOWAS) Trade Treaty and Protocols which
established the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization
3.3 Enabling environment Scheme (ETLS);
The enabling environment ‘consists of the critical factors IV. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
and trends that are shaping the value chain environ-
ment and operating conditions’ (Hellin et al., 2006). Under the policy, the National Export Strategy has
These factors, or institutions, are beyond the control been launched to double the country’s Non-Traditional
of the actors involved in the chain. Business-wise the exports. Vegetable exporters claimed that although
concept of enabling environment generally refers the trade policy could be more user-friendly, they are
to the business-friendly conditions that any given satisfied with the current system in place.
sector should have in place. In this way, enablers are
Land tenure
organised as follows:
Nearly 69% of land in Ghana is used for agricul-
a) Essential enablers tural purposes and the average farm size is less than
The government must fulfil the necessary require- 1.6 hectare. Almost all exporters expressed their interest
ments for the correct functioning of a value chain. in acquiring more land. However, almost 80% of land in
First-order activities include land tenure and Ghana is held under customary tenure. The remaining
property rights, infrastructure and trade policy. 20% is characterized by statuary systems. Distribution
b) Important enablers of customary land is determined by traditional rules in
which the community’s land is passed from father to son.
Commonly, these second-order activities can be
In this system, only the chief or earth priest can concede
provided by a wider spectrum of actors, either
access to land to ’strangers’; therefore it is difficult to get
authorities or private organizations/businesses.
access to new land. In order to reconcile both systems,
These include financial services, research and
challenges such as indeterminate boundaries, weak land
development and standards/regulations.
administration and inadequate land tenure security need
c) Useful enablers to be addressed. This complicated issue makes it difficult
Third-order activities are nonessential for the for the larger exporters to extend their cultivated area.
success of a value chain, albeit they help bolster
economic growth and private investment. In this Infrastructure
group are included all activities that promote a The infrastructure that enables farmers to produce
favourable business climate. vegetables in Ghana is underdeveloped. Especially
the limited irrigation infrastructure is often mentioned
as a major bottleneck for year-round production.

When it comes to pack and cool houses, the 3.3.2 Other enablers
Millennium Development Authority helped construct
a high number of facilities at strategic locations. Financial services
Unfortunately, to date these remain underutilized. High interest rates in Ghana (25–27%) hamper the
Opposed to these developments is the view of normal functioning of the vegetable sector in Ghana.
producers and exporters who believe that assets With a limited access to finance, investment lies in
must yet be provided by the government at a national the hands of only large exporters. Smaller exporters,
scale. Moreover, exporters would also like to see on the other hand, face difficulties accessing credit
more transparency and optimization of resources in (working capital). Nevertheless, some grants and soft
the handling of the shipments at the border (airport). loans are available through other sources (EDAIF,
GCAP, AgDevCo) to motivated entrepreneurs with clear
Plant health medium/long term business strategies.
The National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of All in all, the lack of access to financial services often
Ghana is the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services leads to unreliable supply of products and hence
Directorate (PPRSD), which is part of the Ministry of weaker commercial relations with importers in the UK.
Food and Agriculture (MoFA). The PPRSD consists
of four divisions, two are relevant for this study: Research
Plant Quarantine Division (PQD) and Crop Pests and “Research must be in line with the needs of the sector
Diseases Management Division (CPDM). and should provide an edge in technical solutions.”
 The PQD responsibilities include performing This is a quote from the workshop with vegetable stake-
the official plant health checks for imported and holders. The general feeling is that there is a general
exported commodities and issuing the phyto- detachment between the sector and researchers.
sanitary certificates. The PQD also performs export Stakeholders expressed little knowledge on what
checks to ensure compliance with EU marketing research has already done up to now and how it can
quality standards; have an impact on the sector.
 The CPDM provides technical and extension
Standards: Ghana Standard’s authority
services to NGOs, producers and exporters
regarding the management of pests and diseases, The Ghana Standard’s Authority’s mission is ‘to promote
including supervision of the implementation standardization for the improvement of the quality
of Good Agricultural Practice schemes and the of goods, services and sound management practices
schemes for the export of eggplants and mangoes. and public institutions in Ghana’. Although exporters
Its staff is based at various locations within each of recognise the role of the authority, there is not much
the 10 regions in Ghana. interaction between the two parties. When inquiring
about this issue, the authority said that pictorials
The PPRSD has authorised the Quality Control Division of good agricultural practices by vegetable (chillies
of the Ghana Cocoa Board to perform the export and others available), laboratory testing and other
controls for cocoa bean and other cocoa products. services (i.e. inspection activities) were available to
The phytosanitary certificates are completed by the use. All services are believed to provide the producer
Quality Control Division and validated by inspectors the best chance to grow a competitive crop according
from the PQD. For more information on this topic see to current international standards. All services were
the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) study developed said to be in line with ISO and other international
by GhanaVeg. and regional regulations. 

18 | 4. The market
4. The market
4.1 The domestic market itinerant traders, regional bulk suppliers and special-
ised (contract) suppliers and imports from Europe
The domestic market is segmented into supermarkets, like onions. Most of the bulk suppliers have supply
local markets and corner shops. The Asian vegetables contracts with the market queens, their supplies are
are introduced to Ghana in the mid-1990s by the regular and volumes are large.
Indians migrating to Ghana. As a result only a small
share of the Asian vegetables is consumed locally. 4.1.3 Corner shops
4.1.1 Supermarkets Almost 30% of the consumers buy their fresh produce
from corner shops, which currently spring up along the
There are only a small number of supermarkets in major roads, and in the middle class and expatriate
Ghana. However, the market share of the super- communities of the metropolitan areas. East and West
markets in Ghana is increasing. A number of foreign Legon, Cantonments, Airport Residential Area, Spintex
retail companies have entered the Ghanaian market. Road, and Osu are some of the areas where corner
For example in September 2003 South African based shops are common in Accra. Though their prices are
Shoprite became active in Ghana with a first shop often 30% to 50% higher than in the local markets,
in Accra. Now they have a number of supermarkets corner shops provide shopping convenience due to
throughout Accra. Also Woolworth, the South African proximity, variety of produce, quality and their ability
clothing chain, has entered the market, with a food to sell specialty vegetables and fruits which can
section offering imported products. In addition to the hardly be found at the local market. It is the second
foreign owned retail chains there are also a number of most patronised market segment and most of their
local retailers like Koala and MaxMart. customers have a higher disposable income.
All supermarket retailers source a part of their
product range from abroad, including a large 4.1.4 Wholesale traders
number of fruits and vegetables. For example Wholesale traders are aggregators and traders who
tomatoes and lettuce from the Netherlands were normally bring onions and tomatoes from Burkina
found on the shelves of Shoprite. The main reason Faso and Niger as well as cabbages, green peppers,
for this is that they are not able to find a constant carrots and other specialty vegetables from Togo and
supply of high quality vegetables from within Ghana. Benin during Ghana’s offseason production period.
Itinerant suppliers operate similarly to the domestic
4.1.2 Local markets bulk suppliers but their volumes are small and do
The local market constitutes over 70% of the fresh not have contracts or supply arrangements with the
vegetable market in Ghana typical of which are Makola, buyers/market queens. They sell to the market on
Techiman, Agbogbloshie and Abinkyi markets. These ad-hoc basis as well as whoever will be willing to offer a
markets are operated mostly by market queens and competitive price. Specialised suppliers like Eden Tree,
serve as a point of sale for most buyers who operate normally sell quality produce to high-end-markets such
corner shops, hotels and restaurants. The markets lack as the supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and corner
appropriate handling sheds and storage rooms and it shops. They sell by contract and according to specifi-
is common to find vegetables sold on the bare floor cations and pre-agreed prices, delivery schedules,
or on tarpaulins. These central market centres are varieties and quality control protocols.
supplied with vegetables from domestic bulk suppliers,

4. The market | 19
4.2 The regional market large communities of people of Indian decent. In South
Africa alone there are 1.3 million people that have
Currently there is limited export of vegetables from Indian roots. In the Middle East the people of Indian
Ghana to neighbouring countries. Export statistics heritage has the following size:
report no export of any Ghanaian vegetable. However
during the dry season a number of vegetables are being  United Arab Emirates (UAE): 1.8 million.
imported in Ghana from for example Burkina Faso. This  Oman: 600,000.
includes tomatoes and various types of hot peppers.
 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: 1.5 million.
Main reasons for the limited export to neighbouring
countries are the high demands on the local market, Currently the markets in the Middle East are supplied
the poor facilities for regional export (e.g. poor with Asian vegetables from India. However also for
road conditions), lengthy border checks, and a lack Ghana there are opportunities to supply these markets
of demand for the Asian type of vegetables in the since airfreight rates are relatively low.
neighbouring countries.
Furthermore air freight rates to neighbouring
4.3 The EU market⁴
countries are relatively high as compared to those 4.3.1 The EU market for vegetables
to EU destinations. Therefore Ghanaian vegetables The European market has different market segments
will be overpriced in most African markets. See table (Figure 4.1). The European market is dominated by
below for the average prices of freight per kg in US$. large supermarket retailers. However, there are also
Table 4.1 Air freight rates and flight days per airline retailers that are specialised in vegetables for the
ethnic segment.
Airline Flight days Destinations Freight
rate per kg About 60–90% of produce is sold through supermarkets,
in USD depending on the product and country (CBI, 2013).
Supermarkets are putting in place a large number of
Air Rwanda Mon, Wed, Kigali 1.75
Fri, Sun Johannesburg requirements for suppliers. A minimum requirement
that most mainstream retailers ask is a GlobalG.A.P.
Emirates Sky Daily Dubai 1.09
Cargo
certificate. European retailers are supplied by large
specialised wholesale traders.
Gambia Bird Mon, Wed, Banjul 3.50
Fri The ethnic market in Europe is highly informal and
Air Cote ďIvoire Daily exc. Abidjan certification is not required. Many of the importers are
Tues relatively small in size. They supply ethnic wholesale
Air Burkina Sun, Mon, Ouagadougou 1.16 traders and grocery shops with an assortment of
Wed, Fri exotic vegetables. In the United Kingdom and in the
Air Mali Fri Bamako 1.26 Netherlands there are several markets that have a large
number of specialised importers focusing on the ethnic
Ethiopian Daily exc. Addis Ababa 2.87
Airline Mon, Wed market. In the United Kingdom the main Fresh Fruits
and Vegetable wholesale markets are located in Southall
However there are other potential market opportuni- (Western International Market), Stratford (Spitalfield
ties. For example the ethnic Asian market in a number Market) and Birmingham (Birmingham Wholesale
of emerging and developing countries are considerable Market). In the Netherlands the main wholesale market
in size. In South Africa and the Middle East there are is located in Amsterdam (Food Centre), including a
number of traders specialised in the ethnic market.
⁴See Annex 7 for a list of vegetable importers in EU

20 | 4. The market
On these markets, shopkeepers buy fresh contingents The majority of the products are shipped to the UK
every 3 or 4 days, although this varies largely on the (91%). Chilli represents the largest share with a total
season and final users’ needs. Orders can be anything, value of USD 3.7m. Exports were between 1,500 and
from exotic fruits to some well-known food crops or 3,000 tons. Other vegetables like okra and bitter gourd
culinary herbs. Due to the nature of their business, are not registered as such in the international trade
shopkeepers require only good quality and freshness. statistics, but are included in the HS code 070990
As opposed to these retailers, restaurants, hotels and (vegetables, fresh or chilled – not elsewhere specified)
to lesser extent individual buyers seek for the best deal prior to 2011 and HS 070999 (fresh or chilled vegeta-
instead of quality. These groups of buyers, however, bles not elsewhere specified) from 2012 onwards.
are a minority.
4.3.3 Chilli pepper trade in the European
Figure 4.1 Market segments in the European market Union
Source: CBI Market Channels and segments
A large demand for chilli comes from several chilli-
consuming countries as it forms a part of cuisines
DEVELOPING EUROPEAN MARKET
COUNTRY MARKET SEGMENTS
Retail:
of different cultures and is also used as a colouring
agent. Most of its demand is generated in the food
Developing Importer/
country Supermarkets
Wholesaler Specialised FFV stores
processing sector. Chillies are also used for the
exporter
Ethnic food stores
Street markets
production of pepper spray.
The import of fresh chilli peppers in the European
Food service
Restaurants
market decreased from 96,700 tons in 2009 to

4.3.2 Vegetable trade between Ghana 85,600 tons in 2013 (Figure 4.3). This includes imports
from outside the EU (32,464 tons), as well as from
and the European Union
other EU countries (53,112 tons). The United Kingdom,
Total vegetable trade between Ghana and the European France and the Netherlands are the main importing
Union accounts for about USD 7m (Figure 4.2). There countries (Figure 4.4). The import of chilli peppers
is a decrease of almost 50% in imports since 2008. in 2013 represents a market value of US$ 185 million.
The main reason is that a number of exporters
stopped their activities since they were confronted The European market for fresh chillies is expected to
with more strict phytosanitary requirements which grow. The main driver for this increase is a demand
were challenging for some exporters. from both the United Kingdom and Europe, where
consumer taste for chillies is becoming more
Figure 4.2 Import of Ghana’s vegetable produce by the adventurous.
European Union (USD x 1,000). Source: Eurostat.
Traders that supply the mainstream retailers often
18,000
source from Spanish, French and Israeli producers since
2007
16,000
they produce the common consumed Spanish chillies
2005
2006
2008
2004
14,000
under GlobalG.A.P. certified conditions. Importers that
2003
12,000
supply the ethnic market often source green chillies,
2002
2009
2010
2011
10,000
Scotch Bonnets, jalapeños and habaneros. Green and
2013
8,000
red chillies are often processed in countries like India,
2012
6,000
4,000
Uganda and Ghana. Scotch Bonnets, jalapeños and
2,000
habaneros are produced in Kenya, Uganda and the
0
Dominican Republic.
‘070990 Vegetables, fresh or chilled nes ‘070993 Fresh or chilled pumpkins,
’070930 Aubergines (egg-plants), squash and gourds
fresh or chilled ’070999 Fresh or chilled
‘070960 Peppers of the genus Capsicum vegetables n.e.s.
or of the genus Pimenta, fresh or chilled

4. The market | 21
Figure 4.3 Import of chillies in the EU (1,000 tons) Figure 4.4 Share of import per country
Source: Eurostat. Source: Eurostat.
Other EU Countries United Kingdom
120
31% 19%
100
80
60
40 Netherlands
20
Poland 17%
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
5%
Spain France
Total (Extra-EU) 6% 13%
Total (Intra-EU) Germany, Fed. Rep.
Total (incl. Intra-EU) 9%
Table 4.2 gives an overview of the different peppers ethnic market or to supply the Dutch fresh fruit and
and the key characteristics. In the Netherlands vegetables exporting companies.
more and more speciality chilli peppers like Scotch Spain and Israel produce the regular Spanish pepper,
Bonnet are produced in modern greenhouses. They jalapeños and habaneros. Import of Spanish pepper
are produced as an alternative for the traditional is mainly counter seasonal, coming from Israel. There
greenhouse crops like tomatoes, sweet pepper or is a tendency that chillies are more and more being
cucumber in which margins are under pressure. produced in the EU during spring, summer and
The chillies are mainly produced for the small Dutch autumn (Spain, the Netherlands).
Table 4.2 Selection of different chilli peppers and their characteristics.

Source: Photos from the CBI Product Fact Sheet on chilli pepper and AH.nl.
Type Main markets Main production Spiciness Size Photo
areas
Green and red Ethnic market India, Uganda, Medium hot 5–8 cm
chilli pepper Ghana, Kenya
Scotch Bonnet or Ethnic, retail market Uganda, Kenya, Exceptionally 3–6 cm

Adjuma Dominican Republic hot
Habaneros Ethnic market Spain, Israel Exceptionally 2–6 cm

Hot
Jalapeños Ethnic market/retail Spain, Israel, Kenya, Medium hot 5–9 cm

market Egypt
Spanish pepper EU retail market Spain, France, Israel Medium hot 6–10 cm

22 | 4. The market
4.3.4 The UK vegetable market Figure 4.6 Import of chillies into the UK per year (tons)
The United Kingdom has a large Asian community. The Source: Eurostat.
latest census from the government in 2011 revealed 200,000
that there are more than 4.4 million inhabitants with 180,000
160,000
Asian origins, which explains why the UK imports large 140,000
quantities of Asian vegetables. 120,000
Imports from Ghana have declined since 2008. Main 100,000
80,000
products are chillies and products covered in the group 60,000
not elsewhere specified (n.e.s.). This contains okra and 40,000
bitter gourd (Figure 4.5). 20,000
0
Total import of chilli in the United Kingdom is about
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
180,000 tons (Figure 4.6) and Ghana supplies about
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
1,500 tons per year, with a total value of US$ 3.8 million.
Put simply, Ghana is the largest exporter of chilli to Altogether, the Ghanaian chilli export sector is well posi-
the UK outside of Europe. Ghana has abundant chilli tioned during the wet season. However, the production
production during the wet season, ranging from March and export of chillies during the dry season can be
to September. As a result, the exported quantities are improved so that the sector gains some market share.
high in this period (Figure 4.7). India, Uganda and Detailed trade statics are absent for okra and bitter
Kenya are Ghana’s main competitors for the supply of gourd. However observations at the UK wholesale
chillies. As for Ghana’s dry period, Indian chillies are on import market indicate that most suppliers to the
the market during those months (India is off the market UK market are from Jordan, India and Kenya. Also
during the wet season). Honduras is increasing exports of okra to the European
This also holds for countries like Kenya and Uganda. market. Observations in the market tell us that there
However for them the market in the United Kingdom is is great demand for okra and bitter gourd. In the
only minor and they are also focussed on supplying the United Kingdom, supermarket retailers like Tesco have
EU mainland, often through traders in the Netherlands. included okra in their assortment. Especially good
In addition, producers in Kenya and Uganda often have quality okra is in high demand after the Indian season
implemented GlobalG.A.P. certification. ended (after February).
Figure 4.5 Import from Ghana by the United Kingdom Figure 4.7 Volume of chilies exported per month to the UK
(USD x 1,000). Source: Eurostat. (tons) per country Source: Eurostat.
2007
2005
14,000
2006
2004
2003
2008
12,000
2002
10,000
2011
2009
2010
2013
8,000
2012
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
‘070990 Vegetables, fresh or chilled nes ‘070993 Fresh or chilled pumpkins,
‘070920 Asparagus, fresh or chilled squash and gourds
’070930 Aubergines (egg-plants), ‘070960 Peppers of the genus
fresh or chilled Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta
’070999 Fresh or chilled
vegetables n.e.s.

4. The market | 23
4.3.5 The Dutch market Figure 4.8 Import of chillies into NL (tons)

The Netherlands is not a major market for the Asian Source: Eurostat.
vegetables, however in the Netherlands there is a 160,000
large number of importers and wholesale traders 140,000
that supply a variety of retail markets and channels 120,000
throughout Europe and the United States. For example, 100,000

from the Netherlands many retailers in Europe are 80,000
being supplied. 60,000
The Ghanaian import quantity in the Netherlands is 40,000

very small. After 2003 many Ghanaian exporters of 20,000
vegetables stopped their exporting activities, as a result 0
exports to the Netherlands decreased accordingly. The
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
main reason for this is that exporter were confronted
with more strict phytosanitary requirements which Figure 4.9 Volume per month (tons) Source: Eurostat.
were challenging. Currently the registered import in
the Netherlands accounts for only US$ 50,000.
The Netherlands imports about 105,000 tons of chilli
(Figure 4.8). The main imports originate from Spain
(Figure 4.9). Imports from Belgium are mainly shipped via
Belgium airports to the Netherlands (re-export). Imports
from developing countries have a share of only 10%.
The ethnic market in the Netherlands is much smaller
compared to the United Kingdom and therefore the
demand for hot chillies is small. For example the
Suriname community with about 350,000 people wholesale traders buy this for the Dutch ethnic market,
(according CBS statistic from 2013), consumes a lot of the market in the UK offers more opportunities.
hot chillies.
The main supermarket retailers, like Albert Heijn, have 4.4 EU Buyer requirements
a limited chilli assortment with some medium hot As discussed above, buyer requirements are essential
red and green peppers produced in Spain and Israel on the EU market. Buyer requirements can be divided
and only a few shops offer Adjuma or Scotch Bonnet into (1) legal requirements, (2) non legal requirements,
peppers from Uganda. which are often additional standards and require-
In addition to the imported chillies, there is an increasing ments demanded by European supermarkets.
area of domestic production in the Netherlands. They
are produced almost year round in greenhouses with
4.4.1 Legal requirements
artificial lighting. However during the winter months All horticultural produce imported into the EU must
(December and January) the production is absent due meet certain legal standards. These standards are
to the high prices for heating. As a result chilli is then implemented to protect consumer health, plant health
fully sourced from outside the EU. control and the environment. The basis of the EU’s food
safety legislation is the General Food Law (Regulation
Detailed trade statistics are absent for okra and bitter
(EC) No 178/2002) which prohibits the introduction of
gourd. Currently the market for okra and bitter gourd in
unsafe food to the EU market.
the Netherlands is very limited. Only a small number of

24 | 4. The market
Food imported into the EU must comply with the that the fresh fruit and vegetables sold by retailers are
relevant requirements of the Food Law. This regulation safe for human consumption. Attaining GlobalG.A.P.
defines traceability too, as well as the ability to trace and is not a legal requirement, but is nowadays regarded
follow food, feed, and ingredients through all stages of as the minimum standard that exporters must have
production, processing and distribution, and contains before they can supply the main retailers in Europe.
provisions for traceability. Importers are similarly In addition to GlobalG.A.P. many supermarkets
affected as they will be required to identify from whom demand additional requirements. For example, in
the product was exported in the country of origin. the UK, these include Tesco’s ‘Nature Choice’ and
Regulation (EC) 852/2004 covers all aspects of the food Marks and Spencer’s ‘Field to Fork’, but if an exporter
supply chain from a hygiene perspective. For actors in can achieve GlobalG.A.P. then it is normally not too
the food supply chain, the EU requires the applica- difficult to achieve the standards demanded by specific
tion of certain rules, which are based on the HACCP supermarkets. One of the key aspects of private sector
(Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points) principles, of standards is the ability to be able to trace the history
food hygiene. of a product throughout the supply chain from the field
The European Commission set forth rules on maximum to the consumer. This essentially requires a compre-
residue limits (MRLs) of pesticides in Regulation (EC) hensive system of record keeping. It is a much higher
No. 396/2005, taking into account recommendations standard than the minimum EU legal requirement,
for good agricultural practices, data on consumer which is just a record of who it was bought from and
residue intake and the chemical and biological proper- who it was sold to.
ties of the chemical. For a number of products with an Another requirement supermarkets deal with is the
edible peel, like chilli pepper, some specific additional Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) for pesticides laid
requirements are made related to the MRLs of folpet down in the harmonised European Union legislation.
and pendimethalin (Regulation (EC) No. 322/2012). Some supermarkets often demand MRLs at 50% of
existing standards.
4.4.2 Non legal requirements
Supermarket buyers will buy produce only from sources 4.5 Economic Partnership
that can demonstrate an appropriate and documented Agreement
quality system. As most of the horticultural produce in
Europe is retailed through the major supermarkets, it is EPA negotiations are currently taking place under the
important to attain the certification required to access premise that countries can enter the EU market duty
supermarkets. free. In late 2007 when the regional EPA with West Africa
had not been concluded and the WTO-waiver for the
The most widely used private sector standard was ACP trade preferences was expiring, Ghana initialled
established in 1997 by the European Retailer Produce an interim EPA with the EU which has, however, not
working group (EUREP) and this was referred to as signed by the Government of Ghana. After the initialling
EUREPGAP. However, it has grown in importance and of the iEPA in 2007, the EU afforded Ghana provisional
the EUREP Board decided to re-brand it in 2007 as duty-free-quota-free access to the EU market through
GlobalG.A.P. The basic aim of GlobalG.A.P. is exactly the market access regulation 1528/2007, which was subse-
same as the minimum Codex standards, i.e., to ensure quently amended in April 2013⁵. 
⁵Source: the website of the Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Ghana.

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/ghana/eu_ghana/trade_relation/epa/iepa/index_en.htm

5. Benchmark | 25
5. Benchmark
5.1 Introduction chillies is produced by Asian countries. Ghana is one of
the main producers of chillies in Africa. Uganda is not
Benchmarking is a technique to help companies and listed (Table 5.1).
countries understand their performance compared
to others. It is applied more widely to measure the The main competitors for Ghana on the EU market
performance of a company’s (or a country’s) cost, are India and Uganda. They supply more or less
output, services or process efficiency against practices comparable types of hot chillies. As said in the previous
elsewhere and it can be vitally helpful to understand chapter Spain and Israel are more focused on the other
the competitive position. market segments (the less hot). On the other hand, the
majority of the chillies from the Dominican Republic
In this study we benchmark various indicators such are spicier than the Ghanaian chillies.
as the cultivation practices, market window, costs of
production, distance to market, freight availability and 5.2.1 India
costs and the implementation of certification schemes.
Chilli is grown almost throughout the country. Its
production level hovers around 1.1m tons annually.
5.2 Chillies It is cultivated in all the states of the India. The major
Chillies are produced all over the world. The world chilli producing states in India namely Andhra Pradesh,
production of chillies sums up to around 31m tons, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil
which is cultivated on approximately 1.9m hectares Nadu contribute to around 86% of total area for the
of land. China is the world leader in chilli production chilli crop cultivation in the country and 90% of the total
followed by Indonesia and Ethiopia. These countries Indian produce.
do not supply the European market. The bulk share of
Table 5.1 Selection of chilli producing countries (ha). Source: FAOSTAT.

2005 2009 2010 2011 2012
China 610,000 660,000 680,000 705,000 707,000
Indonesia 187,236 233,904 237,520 239,770 242,196
Ethiopia 61,744 97,712 89,205 115,777 147,092
Mexico 92,193 140,440 143,979 144,391 136,132
Spain 23,672 19,099 18,139 17,739 18,100
Ghana 45,000 13,100 13,200 13,400 13,700
India 5,918 6,840 7,352 7,670 8,000
Dominican Republic 5,156 7,495 7,143 7,261 7,276
Israel 2,800 4,800 5,000 5,500 5,700
Jordan 1,276 1,477 1,899 1,305 1,630
Kenya 1,286 668 954 757 620
Uganda n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Total 1,722,852 1,813,871 1,827,229 1,865,626 1,914,685

26 | 5. Benchmark
Main chilli produced in India is the red pepper. Some Figure 5.1 Export of chillies from India (tons)
varieties produced in India are Sannam, Byadgi, 60,000
Wonder Hot and Jwala. The production season is from 50,000
Other
Bangladesh
November to February. Bahrain
Qatar
40,000
Average yield in India is about 8.5 ton per hectare 30,000
Oman
Nepal
(Ghana this is 8 ton per hectare, FAOSTAT). Cost of Saudi Arabia
production in India is calculated in a recent study by
20,000 United Kingdom
Pakistan
Jagtap et al. (2012). They calculated a cost price among 10,000 United Arab
Emirates
4 different villages in the Amravati district (Maharashtra 0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
state). They indicated an average cost price of about GHS
2,950 per acre, with labour being the largest cost driver.
This is about 60% of the average cost price compared to European Union are estimated at around US$ 5m
Ghana. Costs of freight from India to the UK is between (2013). Uganda exports Scotch Bonnet peppers mostly
US$ 1 and US$ 1.20 depending on the quantity. to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In addition
India is a dominant exporter, but export tends to Uganda exports red chillies.
fluctuate due to availability issues. In 2013 export is Data on the costs of production in Uganda were difficult
estimated at about 43,000 tons (Figure 5.1), with a to obtain, however a dated study (ADC, 2001) gave a
total value of US$ 26m. The most important export first indication of the costs involved. It is indicated that
destination is the United Arab Emirates where around Uganda chilli producers face an average cost price of
1.8 million Indians live. Exports to the EU are limited to about GHS 1,200 per acre or GHS 2,880 per ha. It is
the United Kingdom where ethnic market outlets are obvious that these costs are very outdated, but this
supplied. However an increasing amount of chillies is only about one third of the current cost price for
from India is being sold in the mainstream super- Ghanaian farmers. Uganda chilli production and
market segment. exports face challenges related to seeds, lack of irriga-
Main challenge in India is the current problem with tion and post-harvest handling (Ssejjemba, 2008).
quarantine organisms found in their horticultural Freight from East Africa to the UK is more expensive
produce. Early 2014 a ban has been imposed by the EU due to an average 2 hours extra flight time. As a result
for various products including aubergine and mango. freights costs are about 30–40% higher than Ghana.
On average US$ 1.35 to US$ 1.50 per kg is paid for
5.2.2 Uganda freight and handling.
Chilli production in Uganda is focused on various
areas around Lake Victoria. Main chillies produced 5.2.3 Prices
are the red chilli and the exceptional hot Scotch Import prices of Ghana chillies in the UK have become
Bonnet pepper. In general, chilli production in Uganda higher in recent years compared to India and Uganda,
is undertaken in mixed cropping systems by small- despite the proximity to the market and the lower
holder farmers on plot sizes between 0.2 hectares and freight costs (Table 5.1).
2 hectares, of which an area is designated to produce
chilli (between 0.1 hectares to 0.4 hectares). Production Table 5.1 Average import prices in USD per kg for
per acre ranges between 300–700 kg per year, or 1.8 kg exporting countries (C&F). Source: Eurostat.
per square meter (ADC, 2001).
2010 2011 2012
The window to supply the EU market is between
September and May. Recent export figures are not Uganda 2.5 2.3 2.1
available. The imports of chillies from Uganda in the Ghana 2.2 2.9 2.6
India 1.8 2.3 2.0

5. Benchmark | 27
Table 5.2 Benchmark of chili pepper

India Uganda Ghana
Varieties Red pepper, Bird’s Eye Red pepper, Scotch Bonnet Red pepper, Bird’s Eye
Market window November–December September–May March–September
Average yield 8.5 ton per ha 2 ton per ha 8 ton per ha
Strength of exporters Well organised Well organised Weak
Cost of production Low cost price per acre Low cost price per acre High
Distance to market Estimated 9 hrs Estimated 8.5 hrs 6.5 hrs
Low costs High costs Low costs
FOB price per kg (2012) USD 2.0 USD 2.1 USD 2.6
(see 5.2.3)
Certification and Some farmers have GlobalG.A.P. Some farmers have None
market segments Ethnic market and mainstream GlobalG.A.P.
supermarkets Ethnic market and mainstream
supermarkets
5.2.4 Benchmark production of okra is around 8.4m tons, which is culti-

Ghana exports mainly traditional Ghanaian chilli vated on approximately 1.1m hectares. India is the
(Red pepper) and some small quantities of Bird’s world leader in okra production followed by Nigeria and
Eye chilli. However Bird’s Eye chillies are very labour Ivory Coast (Table 5.3). Also Honduras is an upcoming
intensive. Scotch Bonnet is also produced locally, but producer for okra, though there is limited data available.
hardly exported since quality falls short of international The main suppliers on the European market are India
standards. If we benchmark all different countries and Jordan. In India, the area and production increased
and their performance we see that Ghana is not between 2006 and 2012. The area has increased from
doing very well on most of the performance indicators 391,800 hectares to 500,000 hectares and the produc-
compared to its competitors. The market window for tion has increased proportionally. Andhra Pradesh is
Ghana (March–September) is less beneficial because the leading okra producing state which has production
it coincides with the European growing season in of around 1,184,000 tons followed by West Bengal
Southern Europe. In addition, productivity of chillies in (862,000 tons), followed by Bihar (788,000 tons).
Ghana is relative low due to the low quality of seed, lack
Some of the commonly cultivated varieties of okra
of irrigation and relatively poor agricultural practices.
are Pusa Makhmali, Pusa Sawani, IIHR 20-31, Pujab
Annex 3 provides another dimension to the chilli sector Padmini, Arka Anamika, Parbhani Kranti, Selection-2,
in Ghana. It emerges that, although the Ghanaian chilli Arka Abhey (agriexchange.apeda.gov.in). For export
sector holds a considerable market share of the UK purposes, only hybrid varieties are used. Okra is
market (as compared to other Non-UK producers), available throughout the year in West Bengal, Orissa
margins are squeezed. Therefore future efforts to and Gujarat. In the other states the availability of okra
strengthen the sector should consider the low return is limited to the period from April to June.
in relation to margin and farm productivity.
In Jordan the area of okra production is about
1,280 hectares. Total production is still limited
5.3 Okra and is not meeting the national demand. This defi-
Okra is mainly produced in tropical, subtropical and ciency of okra production is related to unreliable
warm temperate regions around the world. The world rainfall, growing local cultivars with low productivity,

28 | 5. Benchmark
Table 5.3 Selection of okra producing countries (ha). Source: FAOSTAT.

2006 2009 2010 2011 2012
India 391,800 432,000 452,000 498,000 500,000
Nigeria 370,000 390,000 397,290 376,570 385,000
Ivory Coast 43,000 48,000 47,000 49,000 50,000
Cameroon 19,447 18,622 24,004 26,127 26,500
Ghana 19,000 2,400 2,600 2,800 3,000
Jordan 965 1,273 1,043 686 1,280
Senegal 2,533 1,853 531 587 650
Kenya 834 392 383 484 437
Total 975,952 1,013,049 1,038,526 1,067,591 1,085,146
Figure 5.2 Okra yield in ton per hectare on the export market. It is important to note that data
Source: FAOSTAT. has been collected from what can be considered as top
25 farms in which crop management practices are well
20 Ghana above the average of the country.
India
15
Jordan The okra produced in Ghana is facing several problems
10 compared to their main competitors. Table 5.4
5 compares Ghana with two main producers of okra
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
over six defining criteria.
First, the variety produced in Ghana has a high yield,
relatively poor agronomic practices, and high but this okra type is not suitable for the export market.
production costs due to the labour intensive manual Second, the post-harvest handling is not in line with
picking of green pods (Shannag, 2007). the needs of the export market. Okra is a very sensitive
product that requires careful handling. Especially
Considering the average yield for the indicated
the ‘shininess’ on okra is regarded as a key indicator
countries, Ghana has a high productivity; however,
of freshness and this is easily ‘washed off’ during
the varieties produced in Ghana are often the local
packing. Importers and wholesale traders in the United
African varieties which have only limited opportunities
Kingdom report that okra sourced from Ghana is often
Table 5.4 Benchmark of okra

India Jordan Ghana
Varieties Hybrid varieties for Hybrid varieties for Mainly African type of okra not
export market export market suitable for export.
Small area with hybrid seeds.
Yield 12 ton per ha 4.5 ton per ha 20 ton per ha
Distance to market 9 hrs Estimated 5 hrs 6.5 hrs
Low freight costs Low freight costs Low freight costs
Price Comparable Comparable Comparable
Certification and market segments Some Some None

5. Benchmark | 29
missing the required shininess and faces black spots as In these countries the Indian type bitter gourd is
result of manual packing at the farm or at the exporter. produced. The following table shows the benchmark
Importers and wholesale traders in the United Kingdom used for bitter gourd.
argue that exporters from okra in Ghana should pay Ghana is mainly on the market from March to
extra attention to the packaging process and workers September. Indian bitter gourd is on the market from
should wear gloves to protect the okra. October to February therefore does not coincide with
About the cost of production no data is available to Ghanaian bitter gourd. The Dominican Republic has
compare. However, in-depth cost price estimation for a more constant supply to the UK market, with peaks
okra production can be found in Annex 4. From this between May and July.
calculation it emerges that okra is giving reasonable With regard to the professionalism of the sector,
yields at farm level. Ghanaian companies see bitter gourd production as
All the above comes to suggest that while okra is not an interesting crop that would fetch good prices in the
grown at a commercial scale, higher yields than those international market provided that the right variety and
of the dominant producing countries and comparable good agricultural practices are properly introduced to
prices make the crop an interesting and strategic the country.
opportunity to explore further. A detailed cost price calculation can be found in
Annex 5. It is expected that main producing countries
5.4 Bitter gourd incur lower costs of production than those of Ghana.
Bitter gourd (also called ‘karela’ or bitter melon), comes At the market end, prices for bitter gourd would be
in a variety of shapes and sizes. The cultivar common to comparable (when quality and size are similar).
China is 20–30 cm long, oblong with bluntly tapering Discussions with importers and wholesalers in the
ends and pale green in colour, with a gently undulating, UK also tell us that the bitter gourd from Ghana
warty surface. The bitter gourd more typical of India shows great variation in size. Improved sorting and
and Pakistan has a narrower shape with pointed ends, grading could benefit the presentation of bitter gourd
and a surface covered with jagged, triangular ‘teeth’ produced in Ghana.
and ridges. It is green to white in colour. Between these
two extremes there are a large number of intermediate Unlike okra production, where the market opportunity
forms. There are various varieties. is based on the high farm productivity achieved so
far, Ghanaian bitter gourd is characterized by having
Bitter gourd produced in Ghana is competing with a favourable market window and low freight costs. 
bitter gourd from India and the Dominican Republic.
Table 5.5 Benchmark of bitter gourd

India Dominican Republic Ghana
Varieties The Indian type The Indian type, Chinese type The Indian type
Market window November–December Year-round with peaks between March–September
May and July
Distance to market 9 hrs 9.5 hrs 6.5 hrs
Low freight costs High costs Low freight costs
Price Comparable Comparable Comparable
Certification and market None None None
segments Ethnic market Ethnic market Ethnic market

30 | 6. SWOT
6. SWOT
The following SWOT summarises the most important features of the vegetable export sector, with special attention
to three crops: chillies, okra and bitter gourd in Ghana. In the next section we formulate concrete actions and
recommendations, derived from this SWOT analysis.
Table 6. SWOT analysis

Strength Weakness
• Proximity to the EU for fresh produce and • Underutilization of current pack houses/cooling facilities
cheaper airfreight costs; to store vegetables;
• Ghanaian chillies have established a good • Quality, affordability and availability of good seeds (seed
reputation based on quality as well as a long system);
shelf life; • Overall, lack of irrigation schemes (only larger exporters
• Some of the exporters have a track-record of have systems in place) restricts production to the rainy
over 20 years of international exportation. season;
High commitments from a small number of • Roads/transport. Northern part of the country has difficult
exporters/importers; access for vegetable exports due to transportation time
• Climate is favourable; and inadequate trucks;
• A well-defined market window for chillies. • Lack of reputed and quality producer(s) of carton
packaging. This makes exporters less competitive due
to quality decline (inadequate packing) and higher
production costs (little carton available for all exporters);
Opportunities • High-end market segments in Europe, be it supermarket,
wholesalers and other retailers only work with fresh
• Abundant water resources through the Volta
produce GlobalG.A.P. certified; Ghanaian vegetables
River, Lake Volta, and Ghana’s other river cannot access this market.
systems within a few hours’ drive from the • Poor farmers’ agricultural practices;
airport; • Limited cargo space available at affordable prices;
• Irrigation schemes for all year round • Limited government support;
production; • Current cooling and packing facilities underutilised
• Okra is consumed worldwide. There is a (political issue).
possibility to widen the market segment
(restricted to UK ethnic market at the Threats
moment). High demand for okra;
• Improvement of okra and bitter gourd‘s • As a consequence of underutilized packing and cooling
agricultural practices, post-harvest facilities, coupled with a declining phytosanitary condition,
management. Different sizes and qualities quality might be compromised in the future;
supplied to the markets. Market requires • Increased border control due to recent smuggling events;
uniform size and quality; • For green mango and aubergines there is high incidence of
• Possibility to penetrate other market pests and diseases. DEFRA has raised concerns about the
segments because an increased demand for phytosanitary status of those products. This will influence
Asian vegetables in the high-end supermarket the reputation of the Ghanaian produce (high likelihood of
segments within and outside the UK. production being rejected);
• Recent internal ban on vegetable exports to UK is likely to
hurt market position abroad;

7. Opportunities and conclusions | 31
7. Opportunities and
conclusions
7.1 Strategic directions product uniformity and quality. Both
aspects become key when targeting
Note: tentatively, we envisioned for this section concrete EU supermarkets. GlobalG.A.P. becomes
business cases for sector growth. However, given all the minimum entry requirement to
structural challenges encountered we decided to provide penetrate these markets.
a ‘sector plan’ to address the burning issues of the sector. We foresee potential opportunities for uniform
and high quality produce in high-end EU super-
According to the exporters’ opinion, the vegetable
markets. In a visit paid to some of the largest
sector goes through a turbulent time. Recent bans on
supermarket chains in the UK, we came across
Ghana’s export fresh produce have only added further
a wide variety of chillies and Asian vegetables
challenges to the sector’s future. In these testing times,
like okra. Needless to say, exporters dealing with
we recommend a four-step action plan addressing the
supermarkets of the calibre of Tesco or Sainsbury
key challenges of the sector, classified according to
are required to present GlobalG.A.P. certification
the degree of urgency.
or equivalent. Hence, obtaining third-party certifi-
1. Dedicate efforts to apply good agricultural cation on farm/value chain practices may serve as
practices for the production of vegeta- an entry point for new, high-end markets.
bles with special attention to okra and
4. Promote public-private partnerships with
bitter gourd. In addition, recognize the
clear accountability and reliable use of
importance of, and assign resources to,
irrigation schemes to supply all year
the sanitary and phytosanitary status of
round volumes. Ghana is well endowed
(export) crops.
with water resources. In theory, the use
Lack of adequate agricultural practices hampers of irrigation schemes can provide year-
the export of vegetables from Ghana. As a conse- round production and therefore supply
quence, DEFRA at the UK border rejects shipments the market with constant volumes.
for the reason of trips infestation or fruit flies infes-
Higher production in the dry season would
tation. Improved crop management in the growing
provide exporters an opportunity to expand the
areas must work towards a reduction of pest and
market boundaries and explore novel buying
disease incidences and increased product quality.
relations with importers from the UK or elsewhere
2. Facilitate efficient use of available cargo (i.e. the Netherlands).
space, handling and use of cold store.
No discussion with stakeholders left out the issue BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
of air freight. This includes handling, forwarding Annexes 3, 4 and 5 provide detailed economic infor-
and phyto checks. We propose a thorough analysis mation on the profitability of chillies, okra and bitter
of the situation and support the entities concerned gourd. We are certain that the export sector can
with optimised terms in the handling airfreight become an investable and professional sector with
situation. solid business prospects. To pursue this objective,
exporters will be required to move from business as
3. Develop essential post-harvest manage-
usual to market-driven export schemes.
ment skills which will lead to desired

32 | 7. Opportunities and conclusions
Elements to feature are high quality and uniform 7.2 Conclusions

production of Ghanaian green chillies, okra and other
vegetables, preferably in rotation. Also, the farm In the past, Ghana developed a strong presence in
model (acreage around 25 ha and above) should the EU’s fresh market for vegetables. EU importers
include best seeds available, crop protection, efficient welcomed the export of chillies and other Asian vegeta-
irrigation management, complying with GlobalG.A.P. bles from Ghana. Today, unfortunately, Ghanaian fresh
requirements. Once harvested, fresh produce need to produce has fallen out of favour as a significant revenue
be sorted, graded, packed and transported in cooled source. However, actors in the sector are committed at
trucks. Fresh produce would target large supermarket looking for ways to reverse this trend.
chains in the UK. This sector report dissects the current situation of the
When all conditions are in place, exporters can make export sector and advocates for a ‘system change’, both in
upwards of €100,000 revenue per year. At the time the enabling environment and the way business is done.
of writing, the authors had been working towards a Along the lines outlined above, we foresee a number of
detailed dataset that supports the shift from business activities in order to stay in business and to strengthen
as usual to professionalized export schemes. the sector. 

References | 33
References
Literature
ADC (2001) Hot pepper. ADC Commercialisation. Bulletin # 6
CBI (2013) Market channels and Segments.
FAO (2013) Enabling environments for agribusiness and agro-industries development.
Jagtap, P.P., U.S. Shingane and K.P. Kulkarni (2012) Economics of Chili Production in India. African Journal of Basic &
Applied Sciences 4 (5): 161–164
Ssejjemba, K (2008) Hot pepper in Uganda. RSA presentations
Shannag, H.K., Al-Qudah, J.M., Makhadmeh, I.M. and Freihat, N.M. (2007). Differences in growth and yield responses
to Aphis gossypii G. between different okra (A.esculentus L. Moench) varieties. Plant Protection Science
Websites
 http://agriexchange.apeda.gov.in/Market%20Profile/one/OKRA.aspx
 http://www.fao.org
 http://www.comtrade.org
 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/
 http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/ghana/eu_ghana/trade_relation/epa/iepa/index_en.htm
 http://www.cbi.eu
 https://www.wageningenur.nl/en/newsarticle/Cash-crops-enhance-food-security.htm

34 | Annex 1. List of interviewed stakeholders
Annex 1. List of interviewed

stakeholders
1. Ghana Export Promotion Authority
Mr Stephen Normeshie General Manager
Mr Peter Obeng Director, Product Development
Mr Maxwell Osei-Kusi Director, Research and Information
Mr Erasmus Ashun Dep. Director, Research and Information
Mrs Agnes Adjei-Sam Dep. Director, Research and Information
2. Ghana Standards Board
Mrs Elizabeth H. Adetola Deputy Chief Executive Director
Mr M. T. Kumah Deputy Director
3. Integrity International Cargo
Mr Amponsah-Mensah General Manager
4. CTK Network Aviation Limited
Mr Koos Vlaar Technical Director
5. Ghana Airport Cargo Centre/Air Ghana
Mr Michael Naguire Managing Director
6. Dhillon Farms International Limited
Mr S. K. Anopong Export Manager
Ms Rose A. Kwarteng Operational Manager
Mr Narinder Pas Singh Dhillon Managing Director
7. Plant Protection Regulatory Service Directorate (PPRSD) - Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Mrs Ruth Wood Deputy Director
8. Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association of Ghana (VEPEAG)
Mr Joseph Tontoh President
9. Srighan Farms
Mr Pon G. Satheesam General Manager
10. Joekopan Enterprise
Mrs J. Opuni Managing Director
Mr Bernard Opuni General Manager
11. Param Farms
Mr Harcharan Scheema Chief Executive Officer
12. Crop Services Directorate Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Mrs Emilly Monney Deputy Director

Annex 2. Selected Vegetables | 35
Annex 2. Selected
Vegetables
2005–2013 crop area, yield and production estimates of selected vegetable commodities in Ghana
Source: SRID, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA)
2005 2006 2007

Area Yield Prod’n Area Yield Prod’n Area Yield Prod’n
(HA) (MT/HA) (MT) (HA) (MT/HA) (MT) (HA) (MT/HA) (MT)
Tomato 31,000 7.10 220,000 35,000 7.14 250,000 38,000 7.37 280,000
Okro 2,100 15.24 32,000 2,300 15.22 35,000 2,400 15.83 38,000
Garden Eggs 3,900 7.95 31,000 4,200 8.10 34,000 4,500 8.00 36,000
Shallots 4,000 7.00 28,000 4,300 6.98 30,000 4,800 7.08 34,000
Pepper 11,500 6.52 75,000 12,300 6.50 80,000 12,500 6.56 82,000
2008 2009 2010

Tomato 39,500 7.19 284,000 44,100 7.20 317,520 44,200 7.21 318,520
Okro 2,400 19.42 46,600 2,400 19.58 47,000 2,600 19.23 50,000
Garden Eggs 4,800 8.06 38,700 4,800 8.13 39,000 5,000 8.00 40,000
Shallots 4,900 8.02 39,300 4,950 8.08 40,000 7,000 14.29 100,000
Pepper 12,800 6.52 83,500 13,100 6.49 85,000 13,200 6.82 90,000
Onions 7,000 14.29 100,000
2011 2012 2013

Tomato 44,450 7.21 320,500 44,750 7.17 321,000 46,100 7.38 340,218
Okro 2,800 19.64 55,000 3,000 20.00 60,000 3,100 20.60 63,860
Garden Eggs 5,500 7.64 42,000 6,000 7.67 46,000 6,200 7.90 48,980
Onions 7,500 16.00 120,000 8,000 16.25 130,000 8,250 16.75 138,188
Shallots 5,150 8.08 41,600 5,200 8.13 42,300 5,350 8.37 44,780
Pepper 13,400 7.09 95,000 13,700 8.03 110,000 14,110 8.27 116,690

36 | Annex 3. Cost price calculation chilli pepper
Annex 3. Cost price

calculation chilli pepper
6 Months Paid by Quantity Unit Average Price
Irrigated, 1 acre exporter price price per
1,000 boxes (4.5 kg produce) 0.5 kg box weight in in GHS box
GHS in GHS
Farm costs Total Total Average Price Hot peppers 1,000 7.0 7,000 7.0
price price price per Transport 4 250 1,000 1.0
min max in GHS box boxes
in GHS in GHS in GHS Boxes 1,000 2 2,000 2.0
Hot pepper seed 90 120 105 2% Documentation 4 40 160 0.2
per export
Irrigation 600 700 650 13%
shipment
Fertilizer 480 580 530 11%
Exporter costs 10,160 10.2
Chemicals 150 200 175 3%
Revenues FOB 12,500 12.5
Nursery 70 100 85 2%
Cost 10,160 10.2
Land clearing 100 100 100 2%
Margin 2,340 2.3
Land rent per year 100 100 100 2%
Labour 3,070 3,530 3,300 65%
Land preparation 240 560 400 Air freight Quantity Unit Average Price
and (kg) price price per
Transplanting 50 50 50
handling in in GHS box
Weeding 600 700 650
GHS in GHS
Pest control 90 100 95
Handling fees 5,000 0.49 2,474 2.5
Harvesting*A 2,000 2,000 2,000
Air freight*B 5,000 3.30 16,494 16.5
Post-harvest 90 120 105
Air freight and 18,968 19.0
Costs 4,660 5,430 5,045 5.0 handling
Revenues 7,000 7,000 7,000 7.0 Revenues C&F 32,000 32.0
Costs 4,660 5,430 5,045 5.0 Cost 29,128 29.1
Margin 2,430 1,570 1,955 2.0 Margin 2,872 2.9
*A: Bird’s eye chilli pepper requires double amount of work for harvest, therefore workers are paid double (2 GHS instead of 1 GHS).
*B: Air freight ranges between USD 0.95 and 1.45 depending on Airline

Annex 4. Cost price calculation okra | 37
Annex 4. Cost price

calculation okra
8 months Paid by Quantity Unit Average Price
Irrigated exporter price price per
900 boxes in in GHS box
GHS in GHS
Farm costs Total Total Average Price Okras 900 8.0 7,200 8.0
price price price in per Transport 16 250 4,000 4.4
min max GHS box boxes
Okra seed 300 300 300 8% Documentation 16 40 640 0.7
per export
Irrigation 750 850 800 21%
shipment
Fertilizer 480 580 530 14%
Chemicals 150 200 175 5%
Nursery 70 100 85 2%
Margin 80,160 89.1
Labour 1,170 2,310 1,740 45%
Transplanting 50 50 50 and (kg) price price per
handling in in GHS box
Weeding - 700 350
GHS in GHS
Pest control - 100 50
Handling fees 4,500 0.49 2,227 2.5
Harvesting 800 800 800
Air freight*A 4,500 3.30 14,845 16.5
Post-harvest 80 100 90
Air freight and 17,071 4.3
Costs 3,120 4,540 3,830 4.3 handling
Revenues 7,200 7,200 7,200 8.0 Revenues C&F 140,000 155.6
Costs 3,120 4,540 3,830 4.3 Margin 103,089 129.2
Margin 4,080 2,660 3,370 3.7
*A: Air freight ranges between USD 0.95 and 1.45 depending on Airline

38 | Annex 5. Cost price calculation bitter gourd
Annex 5. Cost price

calculation bitter gourd
4 months Paid by Quantity Unit Average Price
Irrigated exporter price price per
1200 boxes in in GHS box
GHS in GHS
Farm costs Total Total Average Price Bitter gourd 1,200 12.0 14,400 12.0
price price price in per Transport for 5 250 1,250 1.0
min max GHS box boxes
Bitter gourd seed 1,000 1,000 1,000 21% Documentation 5 40 200 0.2
per export
Water 750 850 800 17%
shipment
Fertilizer 480 580 530 11%
Chemicals 150 200 175 4%
Margin 71,750 59.8
Labour 1,320 2,660 1,990 42%
Planting 500 600 550 and (kg) price price per
Weeding - 700 350 handling in in GHS box
Pest control - 100 50 GHS in GHS
Harvesting 500 600 550 Handling fees 6,000 0.49 2,969 0.7
Post-harvest 80 100 90 Air freight*A 6,000 3.3 19,793 4.9
Costs 3,900 5,490 4,695 3.9 Air freight and 22,762 19.0
handling
Revenues 14,400 14,400 14,400 12.0
Revenues C&F 150,000 125.0
Costs 3,900 5,490 4,695 3.9
Margin 108,988 90.8
Margin 10,500 8,910 9,705 8.1
*A: Air freight ranges between USD 0.95 and 1.45 depending on Airline

Company Contact Person Address Tel., Fax No. E-mail
Srighan Farms (GH) Pon G. Satheesan P.O. Box GY 117, Tel. No.: +233-302-412685/ ponsatheesh@hotmail.com
Limited (General Manager) Adoagyir – Nsawam +233-24- 6881154/ /kankuhan@hotmail.com
+233-20-4778299
Fax No.: +233-302-412685
GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec9:39
Whytebage Int. Limited George E. Whyte P.O. Box AH 1371, Tel. No.: +233-24-8121512/ whytebage@yahoo.com
Achimota, Accra – +233-26-8121512
Ghana
Kasmed Seeds Dan S. A. Saaka P.O. Box KD 555, Tel. No.: +233 (0) 202 528 128/ kasmedseeds@yahoo.com
exporters
Company Limited (Chief Executive Kanda – Accra +233 (0) 244 250 653
Officer) Office: +233 (0) 289 550 404
Tacks Farms Limited Mr. M. S. N. Tackie P.O. Box CT 653, Tel. No.: +233-302-407264/54 / info@tacksfarms.com
Accra - Ghana +233-20-8122944/
+233-28-7336359
Fax No.: +233-302-407254
Param Farms Limited Mr. H. S. Cheema P.O. Box KIA 18118, Tel.No.: +233-302-510108/ paramproduce@yahoo.com
Accra – Ghana +233-24-4513076
Fax No.: +233-302-507549
Myfarms Limited Mr S. S. Sakhrani P.O. Box 10436, Tel. No.: +233-24-4322604 myfarmslimited@yahoo.
Accra – North Fax No.: +233-302-231189 com
Gyascoda Farms Mr Rexford Gyasi P.O. Box 11589, Tel. No.: +233-24-4991895 gyascoda@yahoo.com
Accra – North Fax No.: +233-302-254758
Joekopan Limited Mrs Juliana Opuni P.O. Box OS 1063, Tel. No.: +233-302-401245/407407, Jopuni@hotmail.com/
Osu – Accra +233-24-4663472 Julianaopuni41@gmail.com
Amarsons Limited Mr Thomas Nunoo P.O. Box 5250, Asylum Tel. No.: +233-302-226520/ amarsons@ighmail.com
Annex 6. List of vegetable
Down, Accra – Ghana +233-24-4936837/3601398/4322227

Fax No.: +233-302-226520
Annex 6. List of vegetable exporters | 39
2015.06.09. 13:38:39
Company Contact Person Address Tel., Fax No. E-mail
Dhillon Farms Int. Mr S. K. Anopong & Tel. No.: +233-24-4868365 dhillonfarmveg2006@
Limited Ms. Rose A. Kwarteng yahoo.com
Baah-Manu Enterprise Mr Baah-Nunoo P. O. Box CT 653, Tel. No.: +233-24-3323884 tacksfarms@4u.com.gh
Accra - Ghana Fax No.: +233-302-407254
De-Froots Farms Mr Daniel Aladi P. O. Box CT 653, Tel. No.: +233-24-2367616 defrootsltd@yahoo.com
Cantonment, Accra - Fax No.: +233-302-407254
Ghana
Hannaba Farms Limited Mr Edward Agyekum P. O. Box CT 653, Tel. No.: +233-302-520585/6, ekufour2@yahoo.com
Kuffour Accra - Ghana +233-20-2013178
40 | Annex 6. List of vegetable exporters
Fax No.: +233-302-407254

Indigha Farms Mr. L. K. Gulati P. O. Box CT 653, Tel. No.: +233-302-774747/762493, indighaagro@hotmail.com
Cantonment, Accra - +233-24-352250
Ghana Fax No.: +233-302-407254
Nkrumah Farms Mr. Richard Owusu & P. O. Box CT 653, Tel. No.: +233-302-506174, richyowusu@yahoo.com
Emmanuel Ofori Cantonment, Accra - +233-24-3707709
Ghana Fax No.: +233-302-407254
PE Farms Mr. Eric Paintsil P. O. Box CT 653, Tel. No.: +233-24-4012002 tacksfarms@4u.com.gh
Cantonment, Accra - Fax No.: +233-302-407254
Ghana
Ultra Fresh Farms Mr. H. Boateng & P. O. Box CT 653, Tel. No.: +233-24-4084235/4261562 tacksfarms@4u.com.gh
Mr. M. Aboagye Cantonment, Accra - Fax No.: +233-302-407254
Ghana
2015.06.09. 13:38:39
Company Address City Country Website
A M S European 15, Rue De La Reunion Rungis Cedex France www.ams-european.com
A1 Veg Ltd. Western International Market Southall United Kingdom www.aspwebdesigner.
com/a1/
Agridor BVBA Kapellen Belgium www.agridor.com
Ahmed Exotic Ltd. Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Al Abbass UK Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom www.alabbasenterprises.
co.uk/contact.html
AMS - European 15, Rue De La Reunion RUNGIS CEDEX France www.ams-european.com
Asia Express Food Kilbystraat 1 KAMPEN Netherlands www.asiaexpressfood.nl
Auchan 200 rue de la Recherche VILLENEUVE D ASCQ France
B&S Fruits Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Bakker Centrale Inkoop B.V. P.O. Box 1164 BARENDRECHT Netherlands
Bargosa, S.A. C/ Longitudinal 9, nº81 BARCELONA Spain www.bargosa.com
Barnier SARL 70, Rue De Carpenters - Bat, D3 RUNGIS CEDEX France www.santana-exoticos.com
- Fruileg
Bel Export NV Borgloon Belgium www.belexport.com
Bel Impex Taag 15-19 Den Haag Netherlands www.belimpex.nl
Belfrutex NV Borgloon Belgium www.belfrutex.be
Ben Fresh en/of De Oevel Belgium www.benfresh.be
Pelsmaeker NV
Annex 7. List of major
Bofrutex NV Borgloon Belgium www.bofrutex.be

Bud Holland B.V. Postbus 411 MAASSLUIS Netherlands www.bud.nl
Central fruit BVBA Brussel Belgium www.centralfruit.be
Centre E. Leclerc L. 26, Quai Marcel Boyer VYRY SUR SEINE CEDEX France www.e-leclerc.com
Cerdan Mercovasa, Ptos 57,58 y 59 EL PUIG (VALENCIA) Spain
Cericola s.r.l. Via Irpinia, 60 ORDONA Italy
importers of vegetables in EU
Annex 7. List of major importers of vegetables in EU | 41
2015.06.09. 13:38:39
Cheney Ltd, J.J. Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Coccinelle NV Sint-Katelijne-Waver Belgium www.primamundo.com
Commercial Fruits 3 R Rue de la Corderie - Centra RUNGIS CEDEX France www.commercial-fruits.com
330
Conford Ltd, W A Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Cultivar Longitudinal 9, N° 39 BARCELONA Spain www.cultivar.net
CyproVeg Ltd (P43) fruit & Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
vegetables
De Groot International BV Hedel Netherlands www.degroot-int.nl
Dhans Western International Market Southall United Kingdom www.dhans.co.uk/
Dhillon Farm Veg UK Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom www.dhillonfarms.com/
Dicogel Behaegel BVBA Ardooie Belgium www.begro.be
Direct produce supplies plc Calico House, Plantation Wharf 5 LONDON United Kingdom www.dpsplc.com
42 | Annex 7. List of major importers of vegetables in EU
DON Limón Handelsburo Banksstraße 28 HAMBURG Germany www.don-limon.de

Der Pilz Schindler GmbH
Durbeck-Italia s.r.l. Via Paolo Canali 1 BOLOGNA Italy
Duva Fruit NV Gistel Belgium www.duvafruit.be
Edeka Fruchtkontor Nord Bankstrasse 28 HAMBURG Germany
EDEKA Handelsgesellschaft Postfach 13 60 OFFENBURG Germany www.edeka-suedwest.de
Südwest mbH
Elesco NV Asse Belgium www.elesco.be
Eosta BV Transportweg 7 WADDINXVEEN Netherlands www.eosta.com
Eurobanan Plataforma Baja-Parcela B3.3, MADRID Spain www.eurobanan.com
Mercamadrid
Everfresh AB Langerbergvagen 190 HELSINGBORG Sweden www.everfresh.se
Exo Fresh GmbH Karl-Theodor-Str. 70 Munchen Germany www.exofresh.de
Exofarm Cour d’Alsace PLA. 389 bat. C6B RUNGIS CEDEX France www.exofarm.com
2015.06.09. 13:38:39
Exofi Fresh Market Quai des Usines 112, mag. 25 BRUSSELS Belgium www.exofi.be
Exotica Superfruit Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Exotimex Europe BV Voorhouterweg 22 A RIJNSBURG Netherlands www.exotimex.nl
Foodinvest Italia Via XX Settembre 2 bis Cuneo Italy www.foodinvest.it
Fox UK Ltd, J.N. & Son Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Fresh 4u Produce Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Fresh Tropical srl Via Cadore 12 SEVESO Italy www.freshtropical.it
Fruchtunion Hamburg GmbH Postfach 74 03 24 HAMBURG Germany
Fruitpartner BV Honderland 96 MAASDIJK Netherlands www.fruitpartner.nl
Fruitpoint Marconistraat 1-11 ROTTERDAM Netherlands
Fruits of Lebanon Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Fruity Fresh Western Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom www.fruityfresh.com/
G.H. Lukassen en Zoon BV Nieuwegein Netherlands www.lukassenagf.nl
Gebroeders De Mooy Oegstgeest Netherlands www.mooijamsterdam.nl
Amsterdam BV
Georges Helfer SA 1, rue des Tropiques, Ent. 133 RUNGIS CEDEX France
Gilbert Exotics B.V. Meliestraat 24 VLIJMEN Netherlands
Global Traders International Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Ltd
Goossens & Fils. Ets. A. Quai des Usines 112-154, BRUSSELS Belgium
mag.44&45 1/2
Grupo LC Longitudinal 7. N° 65 Mercabarna BARCELONA Spain www.grupolc.com
H.G. Walker Western Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Hagé International Spoorwegemplacement 1 BARENDRECHT Netherlands www.hage-international.nl
Hanos - I.S.P.C. P.O. Box 2115 BREDA Netherlands
Harvest Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
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Heath, W.G. & Co. Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Herman Kuijper B.V. Noorddammerweg 91 b AMSTELVEEN Netherlands www.hermankuijper.com
Indom Veg Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Inter Weichert & Co.KG. Banksstrasse 28 HAMBURG Germany www.interweichert.de
Lehmann Natur Organic Marie-Bernays-Ring 39 Monchengladbach Germany www.lehmann-natur.com
Products
Levarth Aalsmeer Netherlands www.levarht.com/
Luis Vicente, SA Estrada Nacional NoB, Km 36 Torres Vedras Portugal www.luisvicente.com
Freixofere
Mack Transfesa Road, Paddock Wood Kent United Kingdom www.mwmark.co.uk
Madelo Continente Estrada da Outurela, N 118, Carnaxide Portugal
Hipermercados, SA Ediffcio Imopolis- Bloco C
Maroc Veg Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Mc. Garlet Via Nicola Calipari 12 ALBANO S. Italy www.fruttaesotica.it

ALESSANDRO
Middle East Fruit & Veg Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Migros-Genossenschasfts- Limmatstrasse 152 Zurich Switzerland www.migros.ch
Bund
Minor Weir & Willis Ltd 241 Wellington Road Ind. BIRMINGHAM United Kingdom www.mww.co.uk
Moses Enterprise UK Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Natures Pride B.V. Honderdland 70 Maasdijk Netherlands www.naturespride.nl
New Springwell Veg Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom
Optima Fruit S.L MURCIA Spain www.optima.es
Organic Trade Company Lelystad Netherlands www.otcholland.com
Holland BV
Oxford Fruit Company Haddonsacre Station Road EVESHAM WORCS United Kingdom www.oxfordfruit.com
Limited
2015.06.09. 13:38:39
Param Farms Uxbride United Kingdom www.paramfarms.com/
Peeters Govers NV Gierle Belgium www.peetersgovers.be
Planet Produce Ltd Stoneford Lane, Bretforton EVESHAM United Kingdom www.planet-produce.com
Plus Retail Postbus 21 De Bilt Netherlands
Pomona Import P.O. Box 349 MARSEILLE CEDEX 14 France
Quality Produce Postbus 50 HOLLAND Netherlands www.qpi.nl
International
Rewe Zentral AG Domstrasse 20 KOLN Germany
Roveg Fruit & Vegetables Postbus 309 Waddinxveen Netherlands www.roveg.nl
Rungis BV Barendrecht Netherlands www.rungis.nl
Saliko Western International Market Southall United Kingdom www.saliko.co.uk/
Sanvir Groenten Amsterdam Netherlands www.
sanvirgroentenamsterdam.
nl/
Satori Holland Arendstaat 2a SITTARD Netherlands www.satari.nl
Satori s.a Chemin du Coteau 29 E/F ACLENS Switzerland www.satori.ch
SMT Fruit & Veg Western International Market Southall United Kingdom www.smtwholesale.com/
Special Fruits nv Europastraat 36, Transport zone MEER Belgium www.specialfruit.be
Staay Food Group Barendrecht Netherlands www.staay.nl/en/
Star Fruit Company 112, Quai de Usines, mag 35/36 BRUSSELS Belgium www.starfruit.be
TFC Holland B.V. Postbus 228 MAASSLUIS Netherlands www.tfc-holland.com
The Greenery BV P.O.Box 79 BARENDRECHT Netherlands www.thegreenery.com
Total Exotics Ltd. Enterprise Way Pinchbeck SPALDING United Kingdom www.totalproduce.com
LINCOLNSHIRE
Total Exotics Europe B.V Handelsweg 150 Ridderkerk Netherlands www.totalexoticseurope.eu
Triofrugt Aps Blomstervej 60 Tilst Denmark www.triofrugt.dk
2015.06.09. 13:38:39
Trofi BV. Distributieweg 13 Waddinxveen Netherlands
Tropifresh 40, Market Pavilion, New LEYTON United Kingdom
Spitalfields Market, 1 Sherrin
Road, Leyton
Tropifruit U.K. Unit 4, Livingstone Road Startford London United Kingdom
Univeg Trade Benelux B.V. Postbus 423 Waddinxveen Netherlands www.univeg.com
Vitaal 164 Lord Street. Southport LANCASHIRE United Kingdom www.nationwide-produce.
co.uk
Vitacress Western Ltd Western International Market Southall United Kingdom www.vitacress.com/uk/
vitacress_wholesale.htm
Vroegop Windig AGF B.V. Jan van Galenstraat 4 AMSTERDAM Netherlands www.vroegop.nl
Wealmoor Ltd Jetha House, Springfield Road MIDDLESEX United Kingdom www.wealmoor.co.uk
Hayes
Yex B.V. ABC Westland 120 POELDIJK Netherlands www.yex.nl
2015.06.09. 13:38:39
GhanaVeg Sector Reports – The Series
1 Vegetables Business Opportunities in Ghana: 2014

Yeray Saavedra, Youri Dijkxhoorn, Anne Elings, Josh Glover-Tay, Irene Koomen, Edwin van der Maden,
George Nkansah, Peter Obeng
2 Export Vegetable Sector in Ghana – Identifying opportunities for

development
Yeray Saavedra Gonzalez ,Youri Dijkxhoorn, Peter Obeng, Piet Schotel
3 Food Safety and Plant Health in Ghana – Analysis of the Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Status of the Vegetable Sector
Edwin van der Maden, Joshua Glover-Tay, Irene Koomen
4 Strategies to support the greenhouse horticulture sector in Ghana

Anne Elings, Yeray Saavedra, George Oduro Nkansah

Centre for Development Innovation Wageningen UR
P.O. Box 88
6700 AB Wageningen
The Netherlands
T +31 (0)317 48 68 00
www.wageningenUR.nl/cdi
Report CDI-14-021

GhanaVeg Export Report

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GhanaVeg Export Report

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Export Vegetable Sector in Ghana

Identifying opportunities for development

The GhanaVeg Program

© 2014 Wageningen UR.

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec1:1 2015.06.09. 13:38:34

Confidential | Report CDI-14-021

Photo cover: GhanaVeg secretariat team

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec1:2 2015.06.09. 13:38:36

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Abbreviations & Acronyms

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8,000 Guavas, mangoes

’71 Pearls, precious stones, metals, coins, etc.

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec2:10 2015.06.09. 13:38:36

Area Prod Area Prod Area Prod a

Okra 16,692 122,956 2,800 55,000 3,000 60,000

(aubergine) July June

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec2:11 2015.06.09. 13:38:36

3. The export value chain

REGULAR EXPORTER/ Packing Aggregators/

SHOP KEEPERS, and to a lesser extent restaurants and hotels

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GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec3:13 2015.06.09. 13:38:36

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec3:14 2015.06.09. 13:38:36

³See Annex 6 for full list of vegetable exporters in Ghana

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec3:15 2015.06.09. 13:38:37

Furthermore, some exporters question the eﬀectiveness 3.3.1 Essential enablers

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec3:16 2015.06.09. 13:38:37

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⁴See Annex 7 for a list of vegetable importers in EU

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec3:19 2015.06.09. 13:38:37

market decreased from 96,700 tons in 2009 to

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Table 4.2 Selection of diﬀerent chilli peppers and their characteristics.

Scotch Bonnet or Ethnic, retail market Uganda, Kenya, Exceptionally 3–6 cm

Habaneros Ethnic market Spain, Israel Exceptionally 2–6 cm

Jalapeños Ethnic market/retail Spain, Israel, Kenya, Medium hot 5–9 cm

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4.3.5 The Dutch market Figure 4.8 Import of chillies into NL (tons)

large number of importers and wholesale traders 140,000

that supply a variety of retail markets and channels 120,000

throughout Europe and the United States. For example, 100,000

The Ghanaian import quantity in the Netherlands is 40,000

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⁵Source: the website of the Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Ghana.

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Table 5.1 Selection of chilli producing countries (ha). Source: FAOSTAT.

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Table 5.2 Benchmark of chili pepper

5.2.4 Benchmark production of okra is around 8.4m tons, which is culti-

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Table 5.3 Selection of okra producing countries (ha). Source: FAOSTAT.

Table 5.4 Benchmark of okra

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Table 5.5 Benchmark of bitter gourd

GVeg_ExportReport_corr1.indd Sec5:29 2015.06.09. 13:38:38

Table 6. SWOT analysis