Agriculture, albeit not receiving as much attention as is desired, is currently contributing about US$2.5 billion to Ghana’s GDP through export earnings.
The Agric Ministry is predicting an 8-fold increase in that amount in the next 10 years.
The growth is expected to be induced by strategic arrangements by the Agric Ministry to improve crop yields through the Planting for Food and Jobs program and a renewed focus on tree crops through the Tree Crop Development Authority.
Since the implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative in 2016, the agric sector has seen a decline from 6.7% in 2016 to 4.7% in 2019, and then it witnessed an astronomical growth to 7.4% in 2020 according to the Ghana statistical service.
According to the Minister for Agriculture Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the government’s focus on distributing improved seedlings and adequate fertilizer will ensure a bumper harvest, which should ensure food security and also earn the country some foreign exchange.
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto was speaking at the Minister’s press briefing, where he also disclosed that renewed focus on tree crops is expected to boost Ghana’s agric earnings.
The Tree Crop Development Agency is intended to concentrate government’s focus on Tree Crops, which hitherto the arrival of Cocoa used to be the mainstay of the agric economy.
The crops include; mango, cashew, shea, rubber, cocoa, oil palm and coffee.
Comparing Ghana to her neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, Dr. Owusu Afririe Akoto said “Ghana could have been making as much as US$15 billion as Côte d’Ivoire with enough focus on tree crops beyond cocoa”.
