By Sandra Ayeiwaa OTOO
The Strategic Communications Africa Ltd. (Stratcomm Africa) has launched the 12th Annual Ghana Garden and Flower Show, set to take place from September 22 to 29, at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra.
The Ghana Garden and Flower Show is one ofStratcomm Africa’s initiatives as they celebrate 30 years of pioneering, innovating, and impacting. This drive is set to demonstrate how communication can be a powerful tool for behavior change, environmental stewardship, and national development.
This year’s theme, dubbed ‘Greenovation: Green the Nation, Feed the Nation, Grow the Nation,” throws light on the importance of innovation in addressing today’s pressing global issues, climate change, environmental degradation, and food insecurity. The theme also encourages all to think creatively, take action, and leverage the power of green innovation to secure a sustainable future for Ghana, Africa and the world.
While highlighting last year’s show in a speech, the Marketing Manager at Stratcomm Africa, Sharon Anim, mentioned that “We welcomed 28,526 visitors, marking a 1.9% increase from the previous year with Sunday recording the highest number of visitors, proving once again that our show offers a space for families, individuals, and communities to connect with nature, unwind, and enjoy.
“Over 90 exhibitors representing diverse industries, including horticulture, floriculture, food and beverages, environmental conservation, décor, and more. The GGFS continues to be a great platform for showcasing how these sectors, contribute to national development and job creation,” she added.
She noted that, the show had a tremendous impact on their exhibitors, with 33.9% generating significant revenue, and 30.6% increasing brand awareness. This, she said demonstrates the show’s power to connect businesses with customers and enhance their visibility.
The Marketing Manager pointed out that, her outfit’s insight and promotion drive had a projected touch of over 48.2 million over traditional websites.
“Our awareness creation and publicity efforts had an estimated reach of 48.2 million across traditional platforms and 1.6 million users through digital platforms. This reflects 173% increase in reach from the previous year. This is not just a show—it is a movement,” she revealed.
“And we are not stopping there! This year, with the extended eight-day period, we are projecting a 15-20% increase in visitors. We are expecting to host between 32,000 to 34,000 participants this year. Our goal is to expand our reach even further to more Ghanaians, especially the youth.
With all the good work done from the previous show, this year’s show promises to be just as inspiring and impactful,” she added.
This year, a wide array of activities have been lined up including gardening masterclasses on urban and climate-resilient gardening and creating irrigation systems at home scheduled for 23rd and 28th September 2024.
Also, the highly anticipated Green to Riches Youth Conference will showcase opportunities for young people in green enterprises, share innovations in agriculture and success stories to inspire the next generation of green entrepreneurs happening on – 27th Sept 2024. The Little Green Fingers program will teach children the importance of plants and environmental conservation scheduled for 23rd,27th, 28th and 29th September.
The Efua Sutherland book stroll combines the love of reading and nature – throughout the week. Other activities include a drama night, music night and our petal tossing ceremony to close the 2024 edition of the Ghana Garden and Flower Show.
Amowi Sutherland-Phillips, daughter of Dr. Efua Sutherland, said the name on the park was only truly meaningful when attention was given to Efua Sutherland’s vision: to secure this space in perpetuity as a measure of Ghana’s dedication to her children for years to come.
She said , “Efua Sutherland’s vision, translated for the 21st century, sees a green, vibrant, culturally grounded, well-managed park which is open to all, and is a destination that we can be justifiably proud of, sitting in the company of many other national heritage markers in this area of Accra. Her vision sees a tree zone which serves as a vital lung of the city, and an environmentally sensitive design showcasingGhana’s indigenous natural heritage, with representation from all our regions.”
“Her vision sees a tree zone which serves as a vital lung of the city, and an environmentally sensitive design showcasing Ghana’s indigenous natural heritage, with representation from all our regions,” she added.
According to her, it is going to take a huge sustained communal effort to bring this space back even better than it was before adding that, everyone who participates in the G G F Movement and Show in any capacity moves them towards this goal.
