By Francis Ntow
Accra, April 10, GNA – The World Bank has urged Ghana to shift from fragmented smallholder farming to a modern, value chain-driven agribusiness system to unlock the sector’s potential.
The Bank said agriculture remained central to the economy, contributing nearly 30 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing about 44 per cent of the workforce, but its full potential was yet to be realised.
Mr Robert Taliercio O’Brien, Division Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone at the World Bank, said this at a high-level webinar on the theme: “Transforming Agriculture in Ghana: Value Chains and Job Creation.”
The webinar, held under the World Bank’s ‘Transformation Dialogues’, was organised in collaboration with the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) and the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER).
“What we are learning, both in Ghana and globally, is that agriculture does not transform through production alone. It transforms when it is connected. When farmers, processors, and markets operate within well-functioning value chains,” Mr O’Brien said.
He noted that Ghana was making progress in linking production to aggregation, processing, logistics and markets, resulting in outcomes such as generating more than twice as many jobs compared to farm-level interventions alone.
Mr O’Brien, however, observed that the sector remained largely informal due to gaps in the enabling environment, adding that “when that environment is strengthened, private investment follows, and transformation accelerates.”
He said Ghana’s agricultural future depended on linking production to reliable markets and called for a shift towards building an economic engine capable of addressing youth unemployment and promoting inclusive growth.
“Unlocking this potential depends on getting the fundamentals right: linking production to reliable markets, investing in core infrastructure – irrigation, roads, storage, and cold chains, strengthening land tenure and regulatory systems, and expanding access to finance by de-risking agricultural investment,” he said.
Mr O’Brien reaffirmed the World Bank’s commitment to supporting Ghana through lending, technical assistance and policy advisory services.
He said the institution envisaged a productive, inclusive and job-creating agrifood system capable of absorbing the country’s growing youth workforce.
Participants at the webinar agreed that Ghana faced a critical juncture, where decisions on infrastructure, finance and policy would shape the agricultural sector’s role in driving economic transformation.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey