This was highlighted at a seminar on the Cold Chain Strategic Partnership Project, organised by the Embassy of Denmark.

The seminar on the Cold Chain Strategic Partnership Project convened local agribusinesses, development partners, public institutions, financiers and civil society organisations working to strengthen cold chain infrastructure and related interventions aimed at cutting post-harvest losses across the food, agriculture and fisheries value chains.

Director of Women in Agricultural Development at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Paulina Addy, believes cold chain systems have become even more critical amid recent food gluts.

“We read about losses for onion around the Adjen Kotoku market and some other locations. These are some very unpardonable things that happen because we could manage the waste or we shouldn’t even let it happen. Either we put them into value added products or keep them in controlled temperature environment so they will not spoil,” she said in an interview with Citi Business News.

Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, Anthony Morrison, stresses that Ghana must now prioritise building a skilled workforce capable of fabricating and maintaining cold chain systems locally.

“Cold chain is the only alternative way. We have the solar, renewable energy that we can develop to make sure we reduce the cost of the cold chain system. What we need to do as a country is to develop the skilled workforce to be able to fabricate or manufacture the cold chain system entirely in Ghana so that we reduce the cost of it,” he said.

While the required investments remain capital-intensive, the Head of Trade at the Embassy of Denmark JØrgen Bollesen proposes viable funding options.

“There’s development finance institutions called Impact Fund Denmark which can do equity, loans and guarantees and then we have EIFO. The most important part of the cold chain project is commercialization and this means who are the owners? Where does the cash flow come from?”

Key speakers at the Seminar on the Cold Chain Strategic Partnership Project shared practical insights on how cold chain systems are reducing post-harvest and operational inefficiencies across their industries.

Participants also outlined potential areas of collaboration and defined organisational roles for the pilot and scale-up phases, aiming to close existing gaps through coordinated partnerships.

The Cold Chain Strategic Partnership Project, planned for implementation in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria, represents a key step in translating Denmark’s development commitment into tangible, high-impact collaboration.Ghana travel guide

Ghana has been identified as a frontrunner country, with pilot projects already under development