Agogo celebrates Golden Plantain Festival

The chiefs and people of Asante Akyem Agogo have marked the second edition of the annual Golden Plantain Festival to recognize and reward hardworking plantain farmers in the area.

This year’s edition was on the theme “Assessing the Benefits of Plantain Production; Contribution from all Stakeholders”.

Asante Akyem Agogo is listed among the leading producers of plantain producers in Ghana, with the town exporting the food crop to neighbouring countries of Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali.

Since 2015, plantain exports from Agogo and its production community has risen steadily to about 126,224 metric tonnes at an estimated value of GHS216m as of the end of last year.

The plan is to expand exports to other African countries with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as well as other European destinations.

A total of 89,731 acreages of land in the Agogo municipality is allocated to plantain cultivation with about 12,924 farmers actively engaged in the cultivation of the food crop, comprising of 7,162 smallholders and 5,762 commercial growers.

It has created employment opportunities for about 472 plantain traders in the municipality and an estimated 18,321 trades along the value chain.

Minister for Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, who graced this year’s celebrations, commended the chiefs and farmers of the area for immense contribution to the success of the PFJ programme.

He also announced the Paramount Chief of the Agogo Traditional Area, Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong, as an ambassador of the government’s flagship agriculture programme Planting for Food and Jobs.

He said the gesture was in recognition of his sterling leadership effort that has seen Agogo as the leading producer of some of the nation’s leading food crops, especially plantain.

Nana Akuoko Sarpong implored the community to ensure the sustainability of the festival and encouraged Ghanaians to pay attention to farming as a source of livelihood.

“Most Ghanaians don’t want to sweat and till the land for food; we the people of Agogo are ready to farm. Today, we are exporting plantain to other parts of West Africa,” he said. Read Full Story