The World Food Forum (WFF) Ghana National Chapter Lead, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa has called for intentional and actionable approaches on Ghana’s fisheries and aquaculture sector.
At the historic launch of Africa’s first Blue Food Innovation Hub in Accra , Ms. Akosa delivered a pointed keynote address challenging the status quo of Ghanaian agriculture.
Ms. Akosa asserted that for too long, land-based crops have monopolized the national conversation, leaving the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the shadows, emphasizing that the crop sector has dominated all attention with regards to agriculture which needs to be changed.
She stated that the unequal attention for fisheries and aquaculture is challenging, and therefore leaves a gap of an imbalanced actions and solution implementation towards the sector in creating resilient blue food systems.
She emphasized that, all stakeholders and actors within the sector must be intentional and robust in drafting and implementing feasible strategies to drive growth in Ghana’s fisheries and aquaculture sector through innovation, and strategic approaches to collectively create measurable impact.
Speaking about the launch of the hub, Ms. Akosa described the initiative as one which is timely and crucial in building a robust blue food systems in Ghana and Africa as whole through innovation and cross-sector collaborations.
She therefore underscored the strategic importance of the hub, describing it as a critical platform for delivering inclusive, scalable solutions for Africa’s blue economy, and called for stronger partnerships, collaborations, inclusivity, and connecting the unconnected to create opportunities, employment, and sustain livelihoods.
Ms. Akosa signing the partnership certificate for the Hub launch
She asserted that the Blue Food Innovation Hub being first of its kind in Africa, align with the World Food Forum’s goal of empowering the next generation to take an active role in food governance and innovation. As such, the Chapter finds it to be a noble course worth supporting, and urged all stakeholders to champion for the hub on purpose through advocacy to scale it up to unleash its impact.
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Hon. Emelia Arthur underscored the importance of collaboration between government, private sector, research institutions, and development partners to drive innovation and bridge gaps in research, value chains, and enterprise development. She noted that the hub will foster co-creation, experimentation, and scalable solutions, positioning Ghana as a leader in Africa’s blue economy.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chamber of Aquaculture Ghana, Jacob Adzikah, said Ghana’s hub is the first of its kind in Africa and is designed to unlock innovation, attract investment and create sustainable livelihoods, especially for women, youth and marginalised groups.
He reaffirmed the hub’s aim to mobilize at least US$10 million in private investment by 2032 for local blue food enterprises.
The Board Chairman of the Chamber, Dr. Henry Anim-Somuah, pledged strong governance and results-driven leadership, calling for sustained support, partnerships and collaborations from government, industry actors, research and development partners to fully live up to its mandate.
