A warehouse with a capacity of 1000 MT has been constructed by Juaben Food Bank for farmers around the Juaben Municipal, Ejisu, Kumawu, Asokore and its environs.
The facility was constructed by JFB to support farmers to store commodities for trade through the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX).
The warehouse will facilitate the storage of grains by about 12,000 farmers located in the aforementioned farming communities.
As part of the agreement, GCX will operate the warehouse and provide services such as sampling, grading and quality assurance to farmers.
The farmers will be linked to the Exchange’s electronic trading platform where the farmers can find buyers easily for their commodities at premium prices.
CEO of the GCX, Dr Kadri Aflah told JoyBusiness “the grains from the beneficiary farmers would be cleaned, graded, fumigated, weighed and packaged into standard 50KG bags to increase their market appeal. The farmers would be able to access credit through their warehouse receipt which would be issued by the GCX”
The Ghana Commodity Exchange established by the Government of Ghana in 2018, operated a national warehousing and warehouse receipt system through which farmers in Ghana can access markets, undertake price discovery, reduce their transactions cost and manage operational and market risks. GCX currently operated warehouses in Afram Plains, Kumasi, Ejura, Wenchi, Kintampo, Tamale, Wa and Sandema where maize, soya, sorghum and sesame are sorted for trade through the Exchange.
The Executive Chairman of JFM, Nana Abeyie Siriboe stated that the warehouse will provide opportunities for farmers in the said areas. Farmers would now have the opportunity to combat persisting problems in the market.
This partnership is under the auspices of the “One District One Factory” initiative and this reflects the major role that the government plays to support farmers through the Ghana Commodity Exchange.