350,000 smallholder farmers benefits from GCX: More warehouses coming — CEO
The Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) says it has secured fair prices for over 50,000 small scale farmers who have traded on the Exchange since its establishment in 2018, selling their commodities to a value of GHS 280,000,000.
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Additionally, over 350,000 have benefitted from training and capacity building.
This includes registered members and non-registered members of the Exchange who leverage the platform to sell their farm produce including maize and soya.
Under its grading system of farm products, it has also ensured that quality and standardised products are sold to ensure the requisite items are sold for their required usage.
The Exchange is therefore, entreating farmers, traders, processors and other interested parties to embrace the idea of trading on the Exchange to secure fair prices for their produce and provide quality food products for the Ghanaian consumer.
“Transparency and efficiency are the bedrock of the Exchange. GCX does not set prices. Negotiations take place solely between the seller and the buyer, we don’t interfere, we allow the market forces to operate on their own,” the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tucci Ivowi, told the Graphic Business in an interview in Accra.
She noted that these farmers come together under Farmer Based Organisations (FBOs) to enable them aggregate and then trade on the Exchange.
“Initially everyone thought we would struggle convincing these farmers to trade on the Exchange but they were the most willing to try! After experiencing the efficiency, transparency and the speed at which they received their money after trade, they are the biggest advocates of the Exchange," she stated.
She further stressed that there are brokers who also play the role of intermediaries for both buyers and sellers to achieve the desired goal of getting a fair selling and buying price of the produce.
Expansion
She revealed that the Exchange currently has 10 warehouses in the middle belt and northern parts of the country and planned to add ten more of such storerooms next year.
“The challenge we have is awareness creation, how to sensitise many more people to know and accept the crucial role the Exchange plays, not only in the lives of farmers, but in accelerating growth through structured trading of critical and high value commodities in the country,” she stated.
She also disclosed that the Exchange will start trading beyond the shores of the country and delve into the trading of other farm produce as well as other types of commodities, including metals and minerals.
“This is the time for everyone to support local manufacturing and local production to ease inflation. It is a time for greater levels of investment, industry players should invest in agriculture,” she noted.
Collaboration with PFJ and Education Ministry
The Ghana Commodity Exchange is currently collaborating with the Ministry for Food and Agriculture to trade all recovered grains under the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme through the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX).
This will ensure that the grains recovered are stored properly to reduce post-harvest losses, sold at the right prices through the platform's price discovery mechanism, while buyers are given good quality and the right quantity of grains they purchase.
Mrs Ivowi added that her outfit has also collaborated with the Ministry of Education to provide food for students in the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme.
Ghana Commodity Exchange
The Ghana Commodity Exchange is a private company limited by shares, structured as a Public Private Partnership, with the government of Ghana currently the sole shareholder.
The aim of the exchange is to establish linkages between agricultural and commodity producers and buyers, to secure competitive prices for their products, assuring the market quantity and quality as well as timely settlement of their trade.