Soybean grower leaders from Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas led a trade team trip to Ghana earlier this summer to mark the achievements of U.S. Soy’s investment in West Africa and to explore future opportunities for collaboration. The trade team was supported by the United Soybean Board.
The trade team’s journey began with a meeting with leaders of Ghana’s National Egg Campaign Secretariat, which WISHH developed in collaboration with Ghana’s Women in Poultry Value Chain. Both aim to promote egg consumption and improve nutrition in Ghana. With an increasing customer base, Ghanaian egg producers can turn to U.S. Soy for poultry feed, a key WISHH strategy in developing soy markets overseas.
At Flosell Farms, CEO and founder Evans Danso shared the success of their USB-sponsored Training Program for Young Professionals. Danso and three generations of program graduates met with farmer leaders to provide updates on the farm’s expansion and how WISHH-led trainings offer real-world knowledge to the next generation of leaders. Afterwards, U.S. farmer leaders led a graduation ceremony to celebrate the interns’ achievements as they enter the next stage of their careers.
The group also visited Yedent Agro Group, where CEO Samuel Ntim-Adu explained the company’s growth as a leader in food and feed production. Having worked with WISHH for nearly a decade, Ntim-Adu noted that Yedent’s expansion into feed production means his company has a higher prefer for U.S. Soy due to its quality. In addition, Yedent now works with the Mastercard Foundation’s Happy Broiler project, which connects him to egg and broiler producers in the country, paving the way for increased expansion.
Another Ghanaian partner, Rockland Farmers owner Edith Wheatland, credited WISHH for driving her to create and expand her poultry business. Wheatland emphasized the high standards required by businesses like KFC and how U.S. soybean meal’s quality supports her operations. The WISHH delegation learned that Wheatland plans to construct a larger poultry processing facility, and how Rockland helps support more than 9,000 jobs in Ghana- particularly for women and youth.
At the conclusion of the trip, WISHH farmer leaders met with USDA Foreign Agricultural Services leaders in Accra. They updated the FAS team on how all these initiatives help strengthen trade for U.S. Soy while fostering the next generation of business leaders in Ghana.