Presidential Advisor on the 24-hour Economy, Augustus “Goosie” Obuadum Tanoh, said horticultural cultivation needs to be supported by finance, standards, skills, technology, and market access.

“Growing is not the same as building an industry,” Mr Tanoh said.

Speaking at the opening of the 14th Ghana Garden and Flower Show, Tanoh said the government’s peri-urban agricultural program, Shiqpon, will connect greenhouses and micro-irrigated crop cultivation with aggregation, cold storage, and markets.

The government is also planning logistics infrastructure for agricultural exports through the Tamale Air Cargo Hub. “The Tamale Air Cargo Hub aims to strengthen logistics for high-value agricultural exports in the cut flower, vegetable, and fruit value chains,” he said.

The 24-hour Economy Secretariat is working with a private-sector investor on a cut-flower corridor along the Daboya-Singa pathway. Flowers grown in the corridor are intended to be transported through the Tamale Air Cargo Hub to markets in Europe, Ghana and West Africa, the Gulf, and other destinations.

Tanoh referred to Kenya’s flower sector as an example for export development. Kenya generated US$556 million from flower exports last year. Ghana, meanwhile, exported around US$75 million worth of mangoes to 42 markets in 2024.

He said Ghana also has domestic demand for horticultural products, including flowers, but continues to import products that could be grown locally.

The government’s plans also include the Volta Economic Corridor, intended to connect agricultural cultivation, industrial development, and logistics along Volta Lake. The corridor has a net-zero objective based on renewable energy, climate-smart farming, land and water use, ecological restoration, and reductions in waste and emissions.