Report on institutions assisting the micro-small and medium scale food manufacturing companies in Ghana

Abstract

This report covers a study carried out during the inception phase of a project to improve the quality and safety of food products of the Food Cluster of Ghana as part of the Food Component of the Integrated Program (IP) of UNIDO. The Food Component of the lP aims at improving the competitiveness of the products of the food manufacturing industries in Ghana. The study involved assessing the contribution and roles of support institutions in Ghana for the Food Cluster in particular and to the food manufacturing companies in general. Altogether, 16 institutions and organisations, some governmental and others private, were visited during the inception phase. The study revealed that all these institutions are in the position of assisting the food manufacturing companies in Ghana to improve the performance of their operations as well as the quality and safety of their products. There are organisations involved in food analytical and engineering services, institutions offering credits, consultancy, training in processing and food development as well as quality assurance, marketing and promotion of the food products. In the last twelve months, for example, there has been a number of training workshops by some of the support institutions on quality assurance; 18 local companies exporting fish and fish products to the European Union have been introduced to the use of HACCP and' ISO 9000 by the Ghana Standards Board and 187 participants from the hospitality industry, under the aegis of the Ghana Tourist Board, have been trained in the fundamentals of the use of HACCP as safety and quality control tools at their workplaces. Unfortunately, most members of the Food Cluster seem to have been lost in these schemes of training workshops. Individually, some members have tried to take part in some of these training, but have found them very costly