Concerns raised over increase import of fruits and vegetable in Guinea

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Concerns raised over increase import of fruits and vegetable in Guinea

Guinea’s Minister for Agriculture and Livestock John Simon, has raised concerns over increased importation of fruits and vegetable in Papua New Guinea.

“The country spends over K1 billion to import potatoes, onions and other vegetables. We can save this money and Kundiawa-Gembogl could be our answer. The government needs to intervene by setting up facilities, as well as providing seeds for farmers, so that factory door prices could be brought to farm gate,” said Mr. Simon.

Simon also noted the need to encourage more people to get into farming in Kundiawa-Gembogl. Simon said there are only 5000 active farmers out of a population of about 100,000.  He emphasized the urgent need for more people to be involved in farming to bring down PNG’s fresh produce import bill.

Most agriculturally productive 

“In the 1950s, Guinea was one of the wealthiest and most agriculturally productive African countries. This potential can still demonstrated today by a variety of flourishing informal agricultural exports within the sub-region,” said Mr. John.

Recent research suggests that with greater productivity output (and associated higher household incomes) comes greater consumption demand for higher value food, particularly in developing countries (Diao and Li, 2020; Muyanga et al. 2019; Reardon et al. 2019; Hernandez et al. 2017; Popkin 2017). Changes in PNG’s trade-trends suggest a shift in demand (increased imports) of protein-rich and processed foods.