GhanaVeg Holds Second Business Platform Meeting On Thursday, June 19th, 2014, GhanaVeg, held its second Business Platform meeting which was attended by eighty-two participants including ten members from the GhanaVeg Dutch Trade Mission. Welcoming the participants for the meeting, Mr. S. N. Tackie, a member of the GhanaVeg Advisory Board and Former President of GAVEX, expressed the hope that the GhanaVeg program will help develop the vegetable sector for domestic, regional and export purposes. Mr. Tackie also noted that for meeting the international demand, there is a need for an improved quality infrastructure to support the volumes of export. The GhanaVeg Secretariat has had discussions with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) on developing a joint action plan to help boost the sector in terms of grants and loans, as well as a better input supply system. In addition, cooperation with COLEACP, that supports GlobalGAP and BRC certification, has been established and GhanaVeg companies are invited to apply for this. http://pip.coleacp.org/en The first Call for Proposals for the Business Opportunities Fund closed on the 6th May, 2014, and two out of eleven applications were approved for funding. These were Eden Tree for chain integration, working closely together with outgrowers and developing certification for the domestic market. Second was Tikola, expanding its improved seed dealer network and portfolio to more than 4.000 farmers. Presentations were held on the preliminary findings of the consultancy studies on export opportunities, greenhouse horticulture, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues.  In addition, two new studies were proposed on: private extension services and vegetable consumer trends. Of these only the private extension services will probably be accommodated by GhanaVeg, as it appeared that already a large study has been undertaken recently on consumer trends and preferences. Other initiatives presented were the Ghana Green Label initiative, Ghana Commercial Agricultural Program (GCAP) and the Plantwise Plant Doctor Initiative of CABI. Especially on the Green Label initiative a lively discussion emerged on the involvement of the private sector in the development of the label and compatibility with other labels like GlobalGAP. The meeting’s agenda and presentations are published on the website, www.ghanaveg.org