Explore opportunities in agric, horticulture – Yankey-Ayeh urges youth

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, has urged young entrepreneurs to explore opportunities in the fields of agriculture, horticulture and gardening to create wealth and also preserve the environment.

She said the government, through the agency, had a support system for young people, including women who ventured into the flower and gardening industry.

All along the chain, there is money to be made. Pay attention to the world and notice the direction it’s going. Our work is to help you. We have worked with over 70,000 people of which 70 per cent are women,” Yankey-Ayeh added.

The CEO was addressing a conference last Thursday as part of programmes marking this year’s Garden and Flower Show at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra, on the theme: “Nine years of green living”.

The show, which opened on August 25, 2021, ends tomorrow with an awards night to celebrate the effort and contribution of individuals and organisations to the flower industry in the country.

Event

The event is a flagship programme of the Garden and Flower Movement, an initiative of Strategic Communications Africa Limited (Stratcomm Africa) which began in 2013.

It is aimed at ensuring a clean and healthy lifestyle, beautification of the country’s public spaces and homes, as well as the promotion of environmental conservation and job creation, among other objectives.

This year’s show includes educational and networking activities such as conferences, nurture to bloom— a discussion on women nurturing men, an Israeli green innovation competition, children’s workshops, as well as fun activities such as movies, music and karaoke.

Focus

The Chief Executive Officer of STRATCOMM and leader of the Ghana Flower Movement, Ms Esther Cobbah, said the show had grown tremendously, with the movement directly focusing on individual responsibility towards ensuring a greener and cleaner country.

This is in line with Ghana’s green agenda and sanitation programme as well as global efforts to address climate change,” she said.

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We take our environment for granted until there is a disaster. Let’s stop the floods to stop people from dying. It is something all Ghanaians must embrace in our actions and behaviours. We must change our attitudes in order that we conserve our natural endowments,” Madam Cobbah added.

According to her, the movement had successfully driven the agenda of promoting a greener, cleaner, healthier, wealthier and more beautiful country in the past nine years.

She said beyond the love for plants, the annual event also provided opportunity for people to learn from successful professionals to be inspired to achieve greatness.