Status, challenges and prospects of food processing equipment fabricators in Ghana

To facilitate effective provision of government support to local fabricators and improve their exposure to prospective clients in order to boost their productivity, it is necessary to understand the challenges currently impeding existing businesses as well as prospects at play with a view to identifying and promoting some recommendations and suggestions. The study explored the status, challenges and prospects of food processing equipment fabricators in three regions of Ghana: Greater Accra, Ashanti and Volta. The research generated an updated database of fabricators, identified relevant challenges and prospects, and established a relationship between the education level of respondents and the types of food processing equipment fabricated. A total of 101 fabricators answered the structured questionnaire. Majority of respondents (81%) were married. 41% had junior high school and 20% senior high school education. Farming (31%) and trading (23.8%) provided the highest secondary sources of income to fabricators. 953 dependents were found to be direct beneficiaries of income generated from fabrication works. 33 food processing equipment were recorded with the fufu extruder and cassava grater obtaining the highest frequencies. 33.9% of respondents had not registered their businesses with the Registrar General's Department. Cross reference analysis depicted that education level of fabricators influenced the types of equipment fabricated; most especially in the fabrication of palm fruit boilers. The work recommends downward review of electricity and import tariffs of fabrication raw materials and machine spare parts, regular capacity building programs, and reduced requirements for company registration and association membership to boost productivity in the sector