The government has announced the Minimum Producer Price (MPP) for 2024 exotic mango for the main season in a bid to provide stable and uniform price for the producers of the crop.
For the main crop season, which spans May to July, the MPP for second grade exotic mango is GH¢4.0 per kilogramme and for first grade mangoes producers could push for higher prices.
Announcing the new MPP for mango at a press conference in Accra on Friday, the Minister of Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, in speech read on behalf by his Deputy in charge of Crops, Mr Yaw Frimpong Addo, said the MPP demonstrated the commitment of government and stakeholders to promote sustainable agricultural practices and ensure fair returns for players in the main value chain in the country.
He said the MPP was to ensure that mango farmers receive fair compensation for their produce, and would provide information to the buyers and processors to plan their businesses, to foster a sustainable and prosperous agricultural sector.
The Minister said MPP was in line with section 3 (f) of the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) Act, 2019 (Act 1010), and Regulation 47 (1) of the Tree Crops Regulations, 2023 the TCDA, in collaboration with the Federation of Association of Ghanaian Exporters (FAGE).
Mr Acheampong said the Board of TCDA at its general meeting held on March 27, 2024 approved the MPP formula for mango and forwarded same to the Ministry for Food and Agriculture for approval.
He said the Ministry had painstaking evaluated the formula and all the processes leading to the approval by the Board of TCDA and the Ministry was satisfied particularly the stakeholder engagement which went was carried out by the Authority before all the parameters for the pricing were reached.
Mr Acheampong said the Ministry, together with the TCDA Board and other stakeholders, with TCDA Board was working to develop a programme aimed at enhancing the current processing capacity for mangoes in the country.
The initiative, he said, was to ensure that the fruits did not go waste due to the recurring gluts that had plagued the industry over the years.
The Chief Executive Officer, Mr William Agyapong Quaittoo, said the TCDA Act mandated the Authority to develop MPP for six selected tree crops in the country such as coconut, shea, cashew, rubber, mango and palm.
He said it was important to develop the MPP particularly for mango and not allow the market forces to determine it.
Mr Quaitoo said the board had approved the MPP for mango and his outfit would soon developed MPP for shea.
The President of FAGE, Davies Narh Korboe, said FAGE with funding from GIZ developed a Minimum Pricing Formula for the determination of MPP for mango.
He said the mango industry had made a lot of inroads and currently had about 22 Farmer-Based Organisations.
The President of FAGE commended the MOFA and TCDA for coming out with the MPP for mango sector.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
