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

Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has warned that Ghana must abandon peasant agriculture and modernize food production to reduce its reliance on food imports. During a presentation of the 2027 Budget to Parliament, he stressed that Ghana's abundant land, water resources, and young population could provide a strong foundation for commercial agriculture. He pointed out that Ghana currently spends approximately US$3.5 billion each year on importing foodstuffs, which he deemed unsustainable.

Addressing plans for investment in commercial agriculture and agribusiness, the minister questioned why Ghana continued to import goods that could be produced locally. He cited examples such as chicken imports worth US$200 million annually and urged stronger integration between crop production and poultry farming. Dr Forson also expressed concern over fish imports and Burkina Faso's role in supplying onions and tomatoes, highlighting Pwalugu as a potential solution for vegetable supply challenges.

Dr Forson proposed increasing local cocoa processing, urging companies buying Ghanaian cocoa to establish processing operations in Ghana instead of exporting the beans for value addition elsewhere. He emphasized that while they welcomed cocoa bean purchases, the government sought to add value locally. On targets for local cocoa processing, the minister clarified that a new Cocoa Board Act had already made a 50% local processing requirement mandatory, with a legislative instrument set to define the timeline for achieving 100% local processing by 2030.

He also noted discussions about a contract for 500,000 metric tonnes of cocoa to undergo local value addition, with Dangote as a potential investor, though the terms were still under examination.