By Issah Mohammed, GNA
Accra, Nov. 13, GNA – The Government will invest US$3 billion in commercial agriculture to boost domestic food production, reduce imports, expand agro-processing and create jobs.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Minister for Finance, announced the investment when presenting the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament on Thursday.
He said the initiative would focus on eight integrated agricultural industries: rice, sugar, poultry, maize and soya feed, aquaculture, oil palm, vegetables and cocoa value addition.
Each industry would have a dedicated commercial plan, financing structure, production targets, processing capacity, market rules and delivery unit.
These would operate within a national farm-to-market system linking farmers to secure land and water, improved seeds and breeds, irrigation, mechanisation, extension services, anchor farms and organised outgrowers.
The system would also connect production to storage, processing, packaging, transport, institutional purchasing, retail markets and exports.
Dr Forson said agriculture contributed about 20 per cent of Ghana’s economy, almost 40 per cent of employment and nearly 25 per cent of export earnings.
However, the country continued to spend billions of dollars annually importing food and agricultural products that could be produced competitively locally.
He said the import bill weakened the cedi, exposed the economy to external price shocks and denied local communities the benefits of domestic market demand.
The investment, he said, would harness Ghana’s land, water and enterprise to improve food security, lower inflation and increase rural incomes.
It would also supply industries with raw materials, expand exports and create employment.
Under the rice programme, import licences would, from 2027, be tied to purchases from verified Ghanaian farmers and millers.
Local purchasing requirements would increase as domestic production expanded.
“Commercial rice imports will be prohibited by 2030,” Dr Forson said, adding that the policy would be supported by increased domestic production, milling, storage, quality assurance and distribution.
Ghana would also pursue sugar self-sufficiency by 2030 through locally grown sugarcane, irrigated production zones, nucleus estates, organised outgrowers and commercially viable mills.
In the poultry sector, the Government plans to develop the entire value chain, including breeder farms, hatcheries, feed production, veterinary services, processing plants and cold storage facilities.
Commercial anchor farms would work with small and medium-sized producers and organised outgrowers.
Institutional buyers, retailers and hospitality businesses would enter into multi-year contracts to purchase locally produced chicken.
Dr Forson said the programme would also establish commercial maize and soya production clusters to supply feed mills and help reduce poultry production costs.
The broader agricultural investment would support irrigation, mechanisation, storage and processing infrastructure.
These would include the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam, whose first phase is expected to be ready by early 2029, with full completion scheduled for December 2030.
On cocoa, he said Ghana would process at least 50 per cent of its cocoa locally by 2028 and 100 per cent by 2030.
The initiative would expand domestic production beyond primary grinding into finished products such as chocolate, cosmetics and cocoa derivatives.
Dr Forson said the initiative would transform agriculture into a business and agro-processing into an industry, while strengthening food security and creating employment.
“When Ghana grows more of what it eats, processes more of what it grows and exports more of what it makes, rural prosperity will rise, inflation will become easier to control, and the cedi will face less pressure,” he said.
GNA
Edited by Beatrice Asamani Savage
Reporter: Issah Mohammed
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