State Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward, back from a trade mission to Ghana, says Arkansas' rice and poultry producers have significant export opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa.
"As the middle class grows, they're spending more money on food," Ward said. "The demand for the high-quality agricultural products that the U.S. produces is growing pretty rapidly."
Ward joined a Nov. 15-20 trade mission led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was joined by Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin, Deputy Secretary of State Joseph Wood, and Denise Henderson of the Arkansas World Trade Center. Representatives of Tyson Foods, the USA Rice Federation, the American Soybean Association and the Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina and Texas agriculture departments also made the trip along with other businessmen from around the country.
They met with government and business officials from Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, Ward said. He said no new deals were struck but that it was important to establish face-to-face relationships with the officials who make import decisions. Arkansas exports about a third of its annual agricultural production, he said, so nurturing international markets is vital to the well-being of the state's farmers.
U.S. exports of consumer items to sub-Saharan Africa have grown from $480 million in 2010 to $909 million in 2014, according to the USDA. The agency said that record amounts of U.S. poultry, prepared foods, condiments and sauces, processed vegetables, wine and beer, and tree nuts were exported to the continent in 2014.
Nonetheless, Ward said, economic pressures caused a dip this year in Arkansas' principal exports to African nations. Through the first nine months of 2015, Arkansas exported $5.7 million in poultry and $599,000 in rice to countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ward said. Those numbers are off the pace set in 2014, when Arkansas poultry exports totaled $10.5 million and rice exports totaled $3.7 million, according to the USDA.
Ward said Ghana's economy in particular has suffered from a drop in the prices of the commodities it exports, mainly gold, cocoa and bauxite. As a result, Ghana this year is importing more of its rice from lower-quality, lower-cost producers in Asia, he said.
But, Ward said, the officials he met with stressed their desire to import more high-quality U.S. products. He said efforts by American poultry producers to help Ghana increase its own poultry production would pay dividends.
"If it's Arkansas producers who are helping them increase their production whenever they're trying to buy something, whenever they're trying to fill that gap [between the food they need and the food they can produce], they're going to look to the countries that are helping them and import our products," Ward said.
Ward said the biggest challenges facing importers in Ghana are a lack of capital and unreliable power grids, which can make storing processed foods problematic.
He said the next step would be to invite African officials to visit Arkansas so they can observe U.S. production methods in person.
Ward said the Arkansas Agriculture Department paid for his airfare and lodging, while USDA paid for his food and in-country transport. Earlier this year, he joined a USDA trade mission to the Dominican Republic as well as a trip to Cuba led by Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Chris Powell, Martin's spokesman, said Martin had been to Ghana previously and had established relationships there. Ward asked Martin to join the delegation, Powell said, adding that the secretary of state's office paid for his airfare and lodging and the USDA covered his other in-country expenses.
SundayMonday Business on 11/30/2015