Her Story: The Woman Daring to Confront Post Harvest Loss in Northern Ghana - Knowledge Hub
Industry Analysis||3 min read
Her Story: The Woman Daring to Confront Post Harvest Loss in Northern Ghana
Where others saw waste, Thamar Victoria Afedu-Annan saw an opportunity for change, community impact and changing the narrative around post harvest losses.
Today, what started as concern has grown into a powerful woman-led business that creates employment for other women, generates revenue and reduces post harvest losses.
Read on to find out more about the impact she is making in Ghana
In Tamale, in Ghana’s Northern Region, where the sun ripens crops as much as it tests resilience, a quiet revolution is taking place, led by a woman who saw possibility where others saw waste.
What SparkedHer Journey
Thamar with her range of products
Thamar Victoria Afedu-Annan did not come into agribusiness by chance. Her journey was born out of concern for nutrition, for the rising burden of lifestyle-related diseases, and for the heartbreaking amount of food lost within local food systems. Working closely with farming communities, she witnessed nutritious crops left to rot, not because they lacked value, but because they lacked opportunity. She also saw something else: women working tirelessly in the background, their labour essential yet undervalued.
Rather than accept this as the norm, Thamar chose to build an alternative.
She founded GirlFarmsHub—a women-led agribusiness focused on transforming locally available and underutilized crops into nutritious, market-ready products. What began as an idea rooted in empathy and observation has, in just over a year, grown into a business operating at the intersection of nutrition, innovation, and social impact.
Thamar’sImpactin the Agribusiness Space
Through value addition and food processing, GirlFarmsHub turns surplus and underutilized crops into shelf-stable products such as date tea, date powder, date syrup, and beetroot powder. Each product tells a story—not only of health-conscious consumers choosing better food, but of food waste reduced, livelihoods created, and women empowered at the community level.
The impact has been tangible: driving change through food innovation that turns raw unprocessed agricultural surpluses into ace products for consumers.
GirlFarmsHub has created employment opportunities for women and youth, built strong institutional relationships including collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), and secured its first international customers, stepping confidently beyond Ghana’s borders. Along the way, the business has been recognized through selection into national entrepreneurship and agribusiness support programs.
Yet, for Thamar, success is not measured only in markets reached or products sold.
“ I am motivated by the desire to build an agribusiness that is both commercially viable and socially transformative,” she says. At the heart of GirlFarmsHub is a vision of resilient food systems—systems that nourish people, reduce loss, and prove that women-led enterprises can lead boldly and sustainably.
Challenges,Lessons andResilience
The journey has not been without its lessons. Thamar has learned that growth in agribusiness demands patience, strong systems, and adaptability. Beyond production, it requires discipline, consistency, and the courage to respond to changing consumer needs. As a woman in agribusiness, she has also faced a familiar challenge: limited access to finance and decision-making spaces, and the constant need to prove credibility as a business leader.
Still, she presses on; building, learning, and sharing.
Today, Thamar confidently speaks and teaches on value addition, reducing post-harvest losses, scaling women-led agribusinesses, and telling authentic impact stories that attract markets and partnerships. She is open to collaboration, mentorship, and training, not just for her own growth, but to lift others along the way.
Thamar speaking at an event
GirlFarmsHub is more than a business. It is proof that when women are trusted with opportunity, they do more than grow food—they build systems, restore value, and feed the future. And in Tamale, one value-added product at a time, that future is already taking shape.
Range of products from GirlFarmsHub
Story covered by Paul Nyametease for AgriPro (2026)
Written by
Paul Nyametease
Research Scientist
Paul Nyametease is a graduate from the Department of Animal Science, University of Ghana with years of experience in livestock management and farm management. He has managed farms and assisted several others to set up systems and structures to improve efficiency. He also serves as Project Manager at AgriPro where he coordinates and facilitates training activities targeted at both livestock and crop farmers both in person and online. He also manages the AgriPro Knowledge Hub, giving users a unique learning experience on the platform. Furthermore, he is involved in AgriPro club activities and upcoming projects such as the Ayeeko project which seeks to bring smart farming systems to farmers in Ghana and beyond.
