Student journalist crowned Miss Agriculture Ghana 2022

A twenty-one-year-old student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Hannah Larten, has been crowned Miss Agriculture Ghana 2022.

Ms Larten, an agriculturalist from the Upper East Region, who processes cassava and plantain into fine flour, emerged winner of the 5th edition of the pageant after beating four of her close contenders to lift the crown.

Contestants

The other contestants were Clara Shaibu, a student of the University of Cape Coast who processes organic waste into charcoal or briquette who came second, and Asantewaa Martha, a fashion designer and processor of cashew apple into juice who took the third position.

Adzomani Ama Jochebed, a student of the University of Energy and Natural Resources, placed fourth with a project of processing soya bean into fine powder for juice and other tasty meals.

Priscilla Asare Larbi, a student of the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA), was crowned the Most Promising Agric Hero.

The crowning ceremony of the annual Women In Agribusiness contest was the climax of week-long activities held at Adeiso in the Eastern Region.

Week-long

This year’s event, dubbed “Women in Agribusiness Festival 2022”, was climaxed on Friday, June 10 with the grand finale.

In all, five young ladies showcased their interests and projects in agriculture that they hoped to pursue after the contest, eloquence in articulating issues and their general appearance to catch the eyes of the judges to be able to lift the crown as the overall winner.

The event which began on Monday, June 6 had the ladies going on a visit to the Adeiso Chief’s Palace, paying courtesy calls and visiting the Women Agribusiness Unit at Adeiso. The contestants also had the opportunity to undertake field industrial trips to the HPW Fresh & Dry Factory and the Blue Skies Ghana Factory until Friday, June 10 when the event was climaxed with the crowning of Miss Agric 2022.

The ladies were at the factories and had the opportunity to interact with some female staff holding top positions in the factories, including the West African Director of Blueskies, Ruth Adjei, and other women setting the pace for young women in agribusiness.

The event was not only to crown winners of the pageant; it also created an opportunity for women farming groups in the region to mount an exhibition of their products and also network with potential clients.

Aside from making sales on the spot, most of the women met potential investors through network.

Aims

At the event, the Founder of Miss Agriculture Ghana, Mrs Oheneba Akosua Kyerewaa Yeboah-Ghansah, said the ultimate aim of the exhibition was to bring to bear the great innovations of the women in the region.

"We took time to train the ladies on the importance of processing and branding of their products before selling, and you will testify that sales have been made, deals have been sealed, potential investors have been located and that's what the festival seeks to achieve," she stated.

Mrs Yeboah-Ghansah, who was the 2016 Second Runner-up of Ghana’s Most Beautiful and Founder and Project Manager of the Women in Agribusiness Festival, seeks to use the reality show to not focus only on agriculture, but everything about beauty, including fashion.

Guests

Present at the festival were the Director for Women in Agriculture at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Paulina Addy; Deputy Director of the Women In Agric Directorate (WIAD), Theresa Wayo; the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Eden Tree Limited, Catherine Krobo-ɛdusei; a representatives from Okata Farms, Abena Kumiwaa Azu, as well as the Eastern Regional WIAD officers and other women representatives.

The Chief of Adeiso, Osabarima Asare Oduro, who jointly chaired the event with the queenmother and other royal representatives, expressed his profound gratitude to the organisers of the festival for choosing to organise the event at Adeiso.

He appealed to the government and other potential investors to support the festival as it sought to train more women in agriculture.

The Director of WIAD, Paulina Addy, also congratulated the organisers for a well-coordinated event that brought together over 500 female participants all over the Eastern Region to witness the festival, network and make sales to grow their business.

Unity

Ms Larten, who was highly elated for winning the ultimate, thanked Mrs Yeboah-Ghansah for giving her the opportunity to excel.
She appealed to her fellow contestants to rally behind her so that they could work together for the interest of the project and to attract other young women into the project.

Ms Larten, therefore, promised to fully represent the brand at this year's Farmer’s Day celebration, as well as other platforms when given the opportunity.