Over the years, flowers and plants have proven to have many uses and importance in the role of human life and the earth as a whole.  Which is why we all applaud Strategic Communications Africa Limited (Stratcomm) on organizing the second successful Annual Ghana Garden and Flower Show (2014).

The show comprised of a conference, workshop and exhibition by flora experts at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra from Friday, August 29 to Monday, September 08, 2014.  The 11-day Garden and Flower Show was under the theme “Gardening for Value – Health, Beauty, Jobs and Income.”  It was aimed to help encourage tourism, healthier and modern lifestyles while helping to generate employment and income-earning opportunities for growth and development.

Present at the opening ceremony was the Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana; Mr. Hans Docter who encouraged Ghanaians to venture into the horticultural industry as he felt Ghana has good lands to help support the venture.

Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana Limited, Mr. Dolapo Ogundimu which partnered in sponsoring the show, also stated “ the horticulture industry is worth billions of dollars and given the right attention from policy makers and businesses, Ghana can improve on the scarcity of foreign exchange, that has lead to a rather sharp decline in the value of the Ghana Cedi recently” (according to the 1806 Issue of the Business and Financial Times).

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the show, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur, Second Lady of the Republic of Ghana and a flower and garden enthusiastic, also challenged Ghanaian floweriest to move from just importing flowers to sell to actually growing the plants themselves to help feed the local industries as it would be better than importing them from other countries. (Source: GNA via GhanaWeb)

The CEO of Stratcomm Africa, Miss Esther Cobbah also ended the show by encouraging Ghanaians to renew their attitude towards gardening and planting of flowers.  She concluded that despite the economic benefits, these activities help contribute to healthier environments.

Gardens and flowers are calming, welcoming and help enhance a place, now with additional economic and health benefits is just a major plus.  This seems like an amazing opportunity for homeowners, businesses, the government and individuals in general. If you didn’t know or you missed it this year, now you know to watch out for it next year. Cheers to horticulture and floriculture, applause to Stratcomm Africa and Cheers to Ghana, we can do this.

Sources:

Business and Financial Times

Ghana WebGhana News Agency (GNA)

Daily Graphic

Stratcomm Africa