Cocoa production has been the backbone of Ghana’s economy since the 1870s. It dominates the agricultural sector and contributes about 30% of the country’s export earnings. Cocoa employs about 800,000 farmers directly.
No region of the world has ever moved to industrialised economy status without a transformation of the agricultural sector. Agriculture, which contributes 16.2% of the GDP of Africa, and gives some form of employment to over 60% of the population, holds the key to accelerated growth, diversification and job creation for African economies.
"The situation at the harbours is very, very bad at the moment and if it continues like this over 21 days we’re going to have a very big problem on our hands,” says Mitchell Brooke, logistics manager at the Citrus Growers’ Association, about the skeletal staffing at South Africa’s harbours that have reduced berthing by over two-thirds.
The $2 trillion stimulus package that Congress passed last week produced good news amid the storm of dismal reports about the impact COVID-19 has had on people and the economy.
Where did the virus causing the current pandemic come from? How did it get to a food market in Wuhan, China, from where it is thought to have spilled over into humans? The answers to these questions are gradually being pieced together, and the story they tell makes for uncomfortable reading.
Demand from foodservice channels for fresh produce in Europe, North America and New Zealand has fallen off a cliff during recent weeks in the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Rabobank.
