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The National Farmers Day which was instituted in 1985 by the Government of Ghana is celebrated on the first Friday of December each year to recognize the contributions of farmers and fishers in the country. On National Farmers' Day, the Government of Ghana gives special awards to deserving farmers and fishermen based on their practices and output. The theme for the year 2020 farmers’ day was ‘’Ensuring Agribusiness Development under COVID-19: Opportunities and Challenges’’.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - Food Research Institute - (CSIR-FRI) participated to make farmers and the public have a better understanding of the value chain of food products and their role in National Development. It also aimed at assisting the youth to develop the concept of entrepreneurship among them. These are aimed at solving problems related to food processing and preservation, food safety, storage, marketing, distribution and utilization, and food and nutritional security in support of the food industry.

Thus, CSIR-FRI exhibited products such as Plantain fufu (made from plantain and cassava), Kokonte (made from raw cassava), maize cereal mix (made from maize, soybeans, and groundnut), rice cereal mix (made from rice, soybeans, and groundnut), maize grits (made from raw maize/corn) groundnut paste, made from roasted groundnut.

One innovation that stood out during the exhibition was the mushroom cultivation technology. The mushroom value chain was introduced; thus, kebab, syrup, pie, dried, and canned. Students were taken through various training modules such as fruit juice/jams training, mushroom cultivation technology, food processing, HQCF training, and chocolate making.

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A meeting was held at CSIR-Food Research Institute (CSIR-FRI) with a Team of Investors from Lutech Engineering, Ghana, who wanted to discuss issues bordering on value addition and how CSIR-FRI operates, and how collaboration could be achieved between the team and CSIR-FRI.

Prof. Mrs. Mary Obodia, The Director of CSIR-FRI made a presentation on activities of CSIR-FRI and how it goes about adding value to agricultural products and equipment. The Director's presentation dwelled on the history, mission, vision, mandate, organizational structure, research areas, services, technology transfer, laboratory accreditations, achievements, and client base of the Institute.

The team was interested in CSIR-FRI’s Ethanol plant at Pokuase that had been sitting ideal for a while now and if there was a possibility of collaborating to make the plant operational. It was reiterated that the institute had a business plan for the Pokuase plant and that work on the plant was 95% complete however, a total of US$ 675,000 was needed to complete work on the plant for production to start.

The investors wanted to know more about the possibility of jam, honey, rice cake, and cereal production, of which they were made aware that the Institute was in a better position to assist in the development and subsequent production of such products. However, when it comes to honey production, one of the 13 Institutes of CSIR Ghana is responsible for research into honey production and for that matter honey production.

The Team later visited some of the facilities at the Institute to have a practical feel of the activities of the Institutes.

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The CSIR-Food Research Institute, in collaboration with Sheffield University and Gold Coast Sustainability and Governance Institute, organized a stakeholder’s workshop at the CSIR-Food Research Institute on Tuesday, 20^th October 2020. The theme for the workshop was, “The Triple Bottom sustainability analysis on the circular economy of the Agricultural food value chain in Ghana” with an objective to reduce post-harvest losses and create zero waste in the system. Thirty-one (31) persons/Institutions participated: twenty-One (21) were in-house and ten (10) online.  Participants were drawn from Research and Academia, Government and Policy Agencies, Non-Governmental and CSOs, actors in the food value chain, climate change, and agricultural waste businesses.

In her opening remarks, Prof. (Mrs.) Mary Obodai, Director of the CSIR-Food Research Institute indicated that the fundamental principle of the circular economy was to ensure that the value chain of production systems are self-sustaining and supports the re-use of resources to avoid wastage.

Introducing the triple bottom sustainability analysis to participants, Ms. Eunice Oppon of Sheffield University, United Kingdom, distinguished between linear, recycled, and a circular economy. According to her, the linear economy has a throwaway approach, where the material was produced, used, and disposed of and the circular economy introduced products back into production. However, a circular economy was most preferred where products are used, recycled and the waste re-used.

The second presentation was on the ‘’Trends in Global Agriculture and its relevance in the era of COVID-19 Pandemic’’. By Prof. Lenny Koh, of the Advanced Resource Efficiency Center, Sheffield University, UK. Her presentation touched on how the Covid-19 pandemic had Impacted livelihoods, agriculture, food systems, and global health, and for that matter the circular economy.

In another presentation, Mrs. Mariam Oppong, on behalf of Dr. Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah of the Gold Coast Sustainability and Governance Institute, spoke on ‘’The Agricultural Economy Landscape: The Ghanaian Perspective’’. She indicated how Ghana had instituted programs to increase food production to ensure food security in the country and the circular economy. This, she indicated would create new models and bring along new job opportunities while impacting positively on the environmental footprint.

Prof. (Mrs.) Mary Obodai, Director of the CSIR-Food Research Institute made a presentation on CSIR’s role in the Agri-business sector of the Ghanaian Economy. As the foremost public Science and Technology (S&T) Research Institution in Ghana which generates applied innovative technologies, she introduced the CSIR to participants by making known the vision, mission, and mandate.  With the agribusiness trend in the CSIR, Prof. Obodai indicated that the CSIR engages in Animal, aquaculture, and food crop production, product development, and food processing, export-oriented agribusiness, local equipment fabrication, and technology business incubation. Through research, technologies are developed and transferred to relevant industry players.

Participants discussed the potential benefits that could be derived from a circular economy and the barriers limiting a circular economy initiative.