Report on fruits and vegetables processing training workshop for agricultural extension agents of MOFA/WIAD

Abstract

A training workshop for processing of fruits and vegetables was organized by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Food Research Institute (CSIR-FRI), Okponglo, Accra in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture-Women in Agriculture Development (MoFA-WIAD) Headquarters, Accra. The training workshop was held at the premises of the CSIR-FRI, Okponglo, Accra. In Ghana, post harvest losses of fruits and vegetables are enormous due to lack of processing, preservation and storage. The high moisture content of fruits and vegetables demands that they are processed before storage. The training workshop was therefore conducted for MoFA-WIAD Agriculture Extension Agents (AEA’s) for two days to be trained on the principles, concepts and acquire technical skills in processing of fruits into juices, drying of fruits and vegetables, Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Good Manufacturing Practices and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. Twenty-two AEA’s representing all the regions in Ghana attended the training workshop. The format of the training was 30% theory and 70% hands-on practical demonstrations on processing of fruits and vegetables on both training days. During the training workshop water melon, citrus, grape, pineapple and mandarin were processed into juices whereas garden egg, pepper, okro, leafy vegetables, pawpaw and pineapple were dried. In addition, two training manuals entitled ‘‘Training manual on processing of fruits into juices for MoFA-WIAD” and ‘‘Training manual on processing of pepper, ginger, okra and garden-eggs for MoFA-WIAD” were made available to trainees as the main training documents during the training workshop. During evaluation of the training workshop, trainees expressed their sincere thanks to the organizers and requested for more of such training workshops