Farmer leaders participating in ASA’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health program delegation briefed USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Accra, Ghana this month. The soybean growers from Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas presented FAS representatives with updates of WISHH’s activities in Ghana, particularly on how WISHH has leveraged farmer checkoff dollars with USDA support to continue to grow agriculture value chains in Ghana. FAS Agricultural Specialist Joshua Taylor joined the discussion and praised WISHH for its work in the West African country. He noted that WISHH continues to work in the Ghanian poultry sector, even after the USDA Food for Progress-funded AMPLIFIES project closed. Taylor commended WISHH’s USB-sponsored Training Program for Young Professionals program for aquaculture professionals.
WISHH Chair and ASA Director Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare stressed that farmers see the benefits of continued investment to grow markets for U.S. soy in food and feeds despite challenges in infrastructure, access to finance, and some of the natural hurdles of working in developing and emerging markets.
“We soybean growers were pleased to update USDA on our continued partnership and engagement in several sectors in Ghana,” said Dolbeare. “Getting firsthand accounts of the growth of poultry businesses, visiting with three generations of young aquaculture leaders, and seeing the lasting impact of WISHH’s USDA Food for Progress project are strong examples of how WISHH grows customers for U.S. soy.”
FAS, likewise, gave farmers an update on market trends in Ghana and lauded WISHH for its connections to the private sector in the country. Business leaders Wisdom Abodakpi of Cycle Farms, and Shaul Hamtzani and Abdallah Kaldoune of Flour Mills of Ghana joined WISHH in the meeting. Each noted the importance of securing U.S. soy for their businesses and how their continued work with WISHH creates win-win opportunities for their companies and U.S. soybean farmers.