The Husker Harvest Days is one of the largest farm shows, which serves as Nebraska’s flagship event for showcasing cutting-edge farming technologies, agribusiness solutions and investment opportunities.

The event will assemble farmers, agro processes, input dealers, machinery and equipment companies, academia, financial institutions and policymakers, offering a platform for business networking and knowledge exchange.

The seven-day trade facilitation event highlights agribusiness opportunities in both regions, addressing challenges and providing tailor-made solutions through business matchmaking, negotiations, networking opportunities, innovation breakout tours and the signing of short- to long-term working agreements.

The annual event aims at further strengthening economic and business ties between Ghana and Nebraska, fostering strategic partnerships and unlocking new opportunities for collaboration in the agricultural sector.

Husker Harvest Days and Business & Trade Activity set the stage for business partnerships and brokerage of business deals between Ghana and Nebraska.

Particularly, the 2025 event would give an opportunity to those who initiated business deals in both 2023 and 2024 to close those business deals and relationships.

Agricultural hub

Known for its agricultural industry, particularly its cattle and corn production, Nebraska is typically an agrarian state, with agriculture as a dominant force in the state’s economy.

A commanding total of 89.4 per cent of the state’s land is dedicated to farming and ranching. It is the state’s biggest industry, contributing significantly to the economy and supporting a large portion of the workforce, particularly in rural areas. Nebraska is a leading producer of corn and soybeans, and is also known for its cattle ranching and beef production.

Based on this rich background, the event would serve as a platform for players in the agribusiness space to learn from the best, adopt best practices and build bridges with their Nebraskan counterparts.

Visit

It is to solidify this arrangement that a three-member delegation from Nebraska, led by a former Senator and co-founder of GNEBCham, Senator Ken Schilz, visited Ghana for a weeklong deliberation and discussion on strengthening the agribusiness space and trade relations in Ghana and Nebraska, as well as between them.

The other two were Senator Justin Wayne and U.S. entrepreneur Jess Goldon.

The visit of the delegation sought to foster deeper collaboration, explore new opportunities and strengthen the bridge between Ghana and the United States.

Their visit ignited and rekindled the interest of various stakeholders in agribusiness. With a tall itinerary, the delegation, led by the other co-founder of GNEBCham, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, and Vice Chairman of the chamber, Cecil Sunkwa-Mills, as well as other executive members, engaged with policy makers, legislators and the academia.

From the Greater Accra Region to the Savannah Region, Central Region, through to the Eastern Region, the delegation also interacted with various groups, including traditional leaders, players in the agribusiness space, as well as agribusiness students at the University of Ghana, Legon. They also had field visits at the Albert Haven in the Eastern Region.

Untapped potentials

At a meeting, the Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness at the Presidency, Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor, invited Nebraskan investors in the agricultural sector to Ghana to take advantage of the largely untapped potential in the sector.

“Ghana is a small country with unlimited potential, which is heavily untapped,” he told the delegation, and gave the assurance that the country had a stable democracy, which was conducive for investors.

Describing Nebraska as “the headquarters for livestock production”, Dr Otokunor was hopeful that the visit was an opportunity for Ghana to learn from the delegation.

Visit successful

For Ms Akosa, the presence of the delegation in the country marked the next phase of a three-year journey focused on building strong trade and investment ties, especially in agribusiness, between Ghanaian businesses and their American partners.

According to her, over the past two years, through the Chamber, over 50 stakeholders, including agribusinesses, government officials, agripreneurs, women farmers, input dealers, financial companies, educational institutions and agro-processors, had actively participated in two successful trips to the Husker Harvest Days.

She said that through the efforts of the Chamber and the Husker Harvest Days & Trade Activity platform, multiple business relationships had been established between corporate and educational institutions.

“Some of the impacts include the initiation of importation deals covering poultry and livestock, input deals and the export of agro-processed products from Ghana to Nebraska.

“Other initiatives, which are at an advanced stage of finalisation, include exchange programmes among youth in agriculture to Nebraska and a four-year undergraduate programme developed with the University of Nebraska,” Ms Akosa said.

GNEBCham is the international representative arm of selected Nebraska senators, farmers, agribusinesses and subsidiaries voluntarily working together with their Ghanaian partners to create an environment where agribusiness and trade can thrive between Ghanaians and Nebraskans and beyond.

Writer’s Email: severious.dery@graphic.com.gh