Population growth has created challenges as well as opportunities for players in Ghana’s economy, with the agricultural sector, not an exception. An Increase in population puts farmers under pressure to produce enough to feed the nation and export the surplus for foreign exchange.
The growing middle-income population, as has been the trend in Ghana’s population statistics has been accompanied by a heightened awareness of the health benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables.
Research points to the fact that the major consumers of fresh fruits and vegetables in Ghana are those categorized under the middle-income population. This means an increase in this population group translates to high demand for fresh fruits and vegetables.
It is against this background that Albe Farms Limited was established by Mr. Albert Atuah Amponsah in 1995 and registered as a sole proprietor peasant poultry farm with the Registrar General’s Department. It was initially in response to the growing demand for fruits and vegetables as a result of population growth and healthy lifestyle choices by residents in his area and neighbouring surroundings.
For close to three decades since then, Albe Farms Limited, a wholly-owned Ghanaian agribusiness enterprise whose main focus is the production and export of pineapples has successfully diversified its production to include other fruits and vegetables, following its venture into mixed farming.
The CEO
CEO of Albe Farms Limited, Mr. Albert Atuah Amponsah is an Agri Business expert, with 25 years of experience in general farming and 10 years in direct and indirect export. Over the years, he has gained experience in mixed farming, processing and marketing. Mr. Amponsah’s commitment to the production and export of pineapples and other fruits and vegetables is evident in the effort he makes to organize the needed resources of production at all cost to ensure sustainability.
Production capacity and export market
Albe Farms Limited is one of the fast-growing pineapple exporters in West Africa as it currently exports 67% of its produce on its 40-acre pineapple farm to the European market and retains 33% for the local market.
The company also relies on an out-grower cooperative made up of 200 farmers in the Nsawam and Aburi area in the Eastern Region of Ghana for its supplies of pineapple for export and 100 other out-growers in other parts of the Greater Accra Region. The production and distribution capacity of fresh pineapples expanded its export capacity from 360 metric tonnes in 2017 to 490 metric tonnes in 2022.
Albe Farms prepares the best quality of its pineapples for the market under a Global Gap Certification. In the past three years and after attending the Fruit Logistica, a fruit and vegetable fair in Berlin in Germany, demand from customers has increased. As a result, Albe Farms Limited intends to scale up production with out-growers and cooperatives to meet its demands. By 2023, the company hopes to achieve a maximum of 1,000 metric tonnes in export of fresh pineapples.
