Dutch Horticulture Business Delegation on a Trade Mission to Ghana
A delegation of 32 Dutch agribusiness leaders of 19 Dutch companies, embark on a high-impact trade mission to boost Dutch-Ghanaian collaboration in Ghana’s horticultural industry.
The mission will be led by the Dutch Vice Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Mr. Marten van den Berg, and will take place from Monday 26th until Wednesday 28th May 2025.
Hosted by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, together with the Netherlands-Africa Business Council (NABC), the mission brings together companies, government bodies, and knowledge institutions of both countries.
Through this mission, they can tap into business opportunities and establish sustainable trade, by building partnerships in the horticultural value chain.
The visit is a key milestone in the Netherlands’ dedication to integrating development cooperation with private sector development in Ghana. Through business matchmaking meetings, site visits, and policy interactions, the mission aims to:
Stimulate and generate interest among Dutch businesses to venture into Ghana’s growing horticulture sector; Highlight the impact of development cooperation in creating a better business environment; and, gather insights into the gaps companies encounter when considering investing in Ghana and utilizing such findings to guide Dutch agricultural policy in Ghana.
This mission is not only about trade—its about creating enduring relationships. The Netherlands believes that supporting a stable, inclusive business climate through development cooperation equates to improved investment outcomes. Getting it directly from Dutch and Ghanaian stakeholders is how we can formulate and implement better-aligned policies.
Through this trade mission, Dutch companies will be encouraged to tap into Ghana’s vibrant agriculture and contributing to innovation, employment, and food security. The action also solidifies the Netherlands as a reliable, long-term ally of Ghana’s agricultural transformation.
The Vice Minister for Agriculture, Marten van den Berg, underlined this during the reception by saying: ‘Dutch farmers have set high standards for productivity, efficiency, and innovation, building an agrifood industry that not only drives economic growth but also enhances food security. Ghana, too, recognizes the value of innovation in agriculture. Therefore, collaboration is essential.’
As His Excellency, Jeroen Verheul, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ghana, stated in his opening remarks at the same event: ‘This trade mission—comprising 19 Dutch companies, reflects the Netherlands shared ambition to deepen commercial ties and explore new opportunities for joint value creation. The Netherlands believes in partnerships that are grounded in local realities, aligned with national priorities, and driven by mutual benefit. In that spirit, we see Ghana not only as a promising investment destination, but as a strategic partner in advancing inclusive and sustainable development.’
HortiTrade Statistics – Netherlands and Ghana
The trade mission takes place in a very timely period. In the face of climate change, population growth, and increasing urbanization, improving agricultural output, efficiency, and sustainability has moved to the forefront of policy. Constituting 22.2% of Ghana’s GDP and employing 40% of her workforce, agriculture remains a key industry. Despite this, local production of key crops such as tomato, pepper, and onions unable to keep up with demand, as well as a growing urban demand for more nutritious, varied, and lucrative crops such as cucumber, carrots, and cabbage, horticulture in Ghana is quickly emerging as a strong growth sector. With its 10% growth rate in 2024, the sector far outstrips the overall agricultural growth of 3%. Despite 80% of sown seed in Ghana coming from informal seed systems, import of Dutch quality seeds has soared by 55% year on year, from 1.8mln euros in 2023 to 2.8mln euros in 2024, making Ghana the second largest importer of Dutch quality seed in West Africa.
Nonetheless, food imports of fresh fruit and vegetables remain high, highlighting the need for further and deeper collaboration between the two nations to develop Ghana’s growing horticulture sector and value chain beyond the purchasing of agricultural inputs. The Netherlands is the second largest agricultural producer in the world, and its private sector is comprised of global leaders in cutting edge, state-of-the-art agriculture. There is a clear win-win value proposition in incorporating the knowledge, experience, and infrastructure provided by the Dutch into the Ghanaian horticulture value chain. This is particularly pertinent given the Feed Ghana Program, a government initiative launched by President John Dramani Mahama on the 11th of April 2025, which aims to develop domestic vegetable production through backyard and community gardening, promote institutional farming to educate and employ youth, and revitalize Ghana’s poultry industry.
The Netherlands is already very active in Ghana’s educational system, collaborating with higher educational institutions including the five agricultural colleges to teach farming as a business as part of horticultural curricula, successfully educating over 2.000 students thus far. Similarly, previous development cooperation initiatives between the two countries such as Ghanaveg, Hortifresh, and the Community Garden Project in Adenta, resulted in over 1.000 home gardeners trained in vegetable cultivation and entrepreneurship. In addition, in the Brong Ahafo region, the Netherlands’ partners trained close to 10.000 farmers in sustainable farming practices. Following these precedents, the Netherlands is poised to answer Ghana’s call for investment into her growing horticulture sector, of which the trade mission is a clear example.
Key highlights of the mission include a business reception, which will bring together Ghanaian government officials and local horticulture and trade stakeholders, including embassy partners. Â Visits to innovative horticultural enterprises in the Volta Region, such as Iribov and Fruitmaster Greenhouse; a Farmer Field Day organized by Ghanaian smallholder farmers, the Horticultural Business Platform and Dutch Farmer companies with presence in Ghana. All these activities will present the impact of Dutch knowledge in areas of seed development, sustainable greenhouse production, cold storage logistics, agri-financing, and trainings to students on farming as a business.
A Business-to-Business matchmaking session will be organised where a total of 40 Ghanaian institutions and firms are to be connected to members of the Dutch trade delegation.
A revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Agricultural Working Group between Mr. Eric Opoku, Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Vice Minister Mr. Marten van den Berg of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature will be signed. This signing marks a renewed commitment to our shared goals and the continued collaboration that drives progress.
This first Agricultural Working Group meeting of the year also marks the official inauguration of the Technical Working Groups focused on three key areas: seeds, agribusiness, and cocoa.
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