Peasant agriculture cannot solve Ghana’s food problems – Ato Forson

Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has called for a transformation of Ghana's agriculture sector to curb the nation's annual food import expenditure of US$3.5 billion. In an interview following the presentation of the 2027 Budget to Parliament, he emphasized that the country possesses the necessary land, water resources, and youthful population to cultivate more of its own food.

Dr Forson lamented that the existing farming methods are inadequate to meet the nation's demands. "The current agriculture, peasant agriculture, cannot solve the problems," he stated. He questioned the country's reliance on imported goods such as palm oil, sugar, rice, and poultry. Dr Forson pointed out that modernizing agriculture could bolster domestic production and support industries that currently depend on imports.

He highlighted the potential of soybean and maize production to provide feed for the poultry industry. "Why can't we use our land to grow soybean and maize to feed the poultry industry?" He also expressed concern over fish imports and Ghana's dependence on Burkina Faso for vegetables. "We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year to bring in vegetables.

Pwalugu can be the solution. Why can't we do this?" Beyond food production, Dr Forson urged Ghana to retain more value from its cocoa rather than exporting beans for processing abroad. He shared his experience in Bangkok, where he witnessed various cocoa-based products. He argued that Ghana's traditional financing model encourages exporting beans rather than processing them domestically.

"We are not saying don't come and buy our cocoa beans, but if you are a company out there, come and buy our cocoa beans, but add value here in Ghana." Regarding targets to process 50% of Ghana's cocoa locally by 2028 and 100% by 2030, Dr Forson noted that the new Cocoa Board Act already provides for the 50% requirement. He said a legislative instrument would outline the implementation timelines, including the full local processing by 2030.

On processing capacity, the minister revealed that Dangote had shown interest in utilizing Ghana as a cocoa-processing hub. He mentioned discussions involving a proposed contract for 500,000 metric tonnes of cocoa for local value addition, with terms still under examination.