The Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) has reached a marketing partnership deal with British produce buying company, Minor, Weirs and Willis, to purchase Ghanaian mangoes under its mango development project.

The agreement, which would ensure a ready foreign market for Ghanaian farmers is expected to generate a total revenue of GH¢46 million by 2013 and increase to about
GH¢184.2 million by the close of the project in 2017. EDIF is investing GH¢52.24 million over the next five years to boost the cultivation of 20,000 acres of mango for export in the savannah regions of the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta and Brong Ahafo Regions. The venture is in line with government policy to turn the five regions into a mango production hub.

The deal is expected to give mango producers and exporters a ready market for their produce. Under the deal, Minor, Weirs and Willis, is expected to provide a large foreign clientele ready for Ghanaian farm produce, which meet the standard of the UK market. Ghana has the potential to produce about 300 different kinds of farm produce out of the 600 product lines of the British company. As part of the project, key infrastructure along the mango value chain, such as pack houses and processing facilities, would be provided. Established about a decade ago to make financial resources available for the development and promotion of Ghana's export trade, EDIF has so far provided GH¢157.27 million to support 227 projects across the country.