HGL to feed Ghana by 2023 through PPP

Ms Lilian Nekpe, Factory Superintendent of HGL Company, an agro-based and agro-processing entity in Ho on Monday said they are seeking private-public partnerships to operate at full-scale to meet Ghana's food security needs by 2023.

She said HGL was envisioned to provide at least 5,000 jobs for youth and equip them to venture into agribusinesses and ensure food sufficiency in the country.

Ms Nekpe, who conducted the Ghana News Agency round the farm and facilities, said the entity was positioned to offer agro-logistics support services by hiring out farm equipment, combine harvesters, ploughs and harrows to farmers.

She disclosed that HGL had 500-acre land and presently utilizing only 100 acres to cultivate rice and hoping to scale-up in the future with favourable conditions to cultivate onions, cabbages and okro depending on demand.

Ms Nekpe said the Company had a 3,000 metric tons capacity silos to store grains and facilitate the drying, cleaning, processing, bagging and storage of cereals with the services available to the public.

She said HGL was yet to break into government's flagship support from the 1D1F policy, saying, about GHC 13 million had been spent so far on developing infrastructure and others, since its inception in 2016.

Ms Nekpe projected that the prospects for rice cultivation was enormous and that HGL would explore that to advantage and reduce the large scale imports of the commodity.

"We are positioned to grow and flood the Ghanaian market of Thai Jasmine rice," she said.

Ms Nekpe said HGL's branded maize called "GOGO SWAG OLONKA," packaged into 10 kilogramme bags was available in a few stores in the market and appealed to the public to patronise it.

She said the Company had a 12-member permanent staff, 20 casual hands and outsourced labour as the need arises.

The Factory Superintendent said HGL has targeted the next five years to fully actualise its full potentials.

She said their challenges included huge electricity bills and lack of subsidies on agro-chemicals and inputs.