The site of a rice farm plagued by drought in the Volta Region.
The Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB) has revealed that rice production in the Volta Region of Ghana faces bleak consequences this year due to ongoing drought conditions which are disrupting production in some parts of the Region.
According to the body, farmers in the Akatsi North and South districts in the Volta Region have been gravely affected by poor rainfall patterns and are likely to lose their entire output for the 2021/2022 season.
“In Ketu South alone, over 700 hectares of rice have been lost to the drought. “The problem covers several areas including Kpoglu, Avalavi, Klenomadi and Avie in Ketu North, Akatsi in Akatsi South, Tongu Districts, Afadzato South District and Hohoe Municipal areas,” the President said.
This comes as a blow to the sector, which is an attempt to wean the country off rice importation by achieving self-sufficiency in production by 2025.
As if that is not enough, the affected farmers will have to wait till next year before they can earn some income.
Speaking to the reporter, President of GRIB Nana Agyei Ayeh II said some members of the farmers reached out to him to ascertain the situation and find a solution to the looming danger.
The President, together with some of the officials of the John A. Kufuor Foundation paid a working visit to the farms, and on their observation, several hectares of rice under cultivation are lost due to climate change and low levels of rainfall in these communities.
The woes of the farmers are further exacerbated by the huge investments they have already made in land preparation, seeds, and fertilizer.
However, the provisional production figures by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) indicate that about 973, 000 metric tonnes of rice were produced in Ghana in 2020. But, this figure could be hard to match in 2021 if the current situation persists.
Nana Agyei Ayeh II revealed that the existing dam structure which was built to harvest water to irrigate the farmlands is in a dire state of disrepair, leaving farmers at the mercy of the harsh weather conditions.
“We cannot continue with rain-fed agriculture. As you can see, this year, farmers have lost their investments simply because the rains failed them.
We would like to appeal to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to provide dugouts for these areas. These will aid in water conservations for the purposes of irrigation in such times like what we facing now” he added.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) has revealed that the Authority is ready to ensure that the vision of His Excellency, President John Dramani Mahama ensuring Ghana’s self-sufficiency in the Red Gold, thus Oil Palm would be achieved.
He said this at the first National Oil Palm Multi-Stakeholder Roundtable Forum held at Chartered Institute of Bankers Hall, Accra.
The Forum with the theme; From Policy to Practice, the role of TCDA in Resetting Ghana’s Oil Palm Industry convened policy makers, researchers, finance, security officers, develop partners and agribusiness who designed a framework to augment achieving the vision.
The palm oil is the world-leading vegetable oil, accounting for roughly 37% of the total oil seed output.
It is a crop with an extraordinary strategic value, yielding more oil per hectare than any other major vegetable crop, and serving as a vital raw material for food processing, cosmetics, soap-making, biofuels, and diverse downstream industries, yet, the global market distribution presents just a diminutive for our region.
Bridging the palm oil production gap between Ghana producing 3.5%, Malaysia and Indonesia who produce 80, 90%, the government has targeted hundred thousand (100,000) hectares of new oil palm plantation to supplement the existing 360,000 hectares.
By 2032, he said, TCDA through the new national policy, should formalized palm oil production. The Authority has been designated as a key regulatory institution responsible for licensing, planning, production and data management.
According to Dr. Okrah, the goal of the TCDA is to focus on the ambition of expanding plantations, create sustainable jobs, reduce reliance on imported edible oils, and position Ghana as a competitive, respected player in the global palm oil market.
Enhancing the realization of the vision, he told Agric Today Media that TCDA’s mandate is to regulate and develop the value chain; the oil palm value chain.
“Our role, first, as a firm regulator. We are responsible for enforcing licensing, quality standards, industry data compliance, ensuring fair trading and transparent practices across the value chain”, he mentioned.
He stressed that TCDA act as an active enabler; meaning the Authority develop the capacity of the stakeholders by coordinating planting programs, facilitating access to certified seeds and seedlings, and opening the sector for sustainable investment opportunities and market accessibility.
With these stringent measures, capacity development, and the hectare expansion, the Authority is poised to contribute meaningfully to the actualization of Ghana’s self-sufficient in the Red Gold.
He called all the stakeholders and the general public to rally behind the vision to bridge the production gap to mitigate oil palm and vegetable oil importation to create jobs for the youth.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has barred Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) from purchasing cocoa beans on credit from farmers, warning that companies that breach the directive risk losing their operating licences.
Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Dr. Randy Abbey, speaking at the launch of the Chamber of Cocoa Marketers, said the regulator has formally instructed LBCs to end the practice as part of measures to strengthen liquidity, improve payment discipline and restore efficiency across Ghana’s cocoa supply chain.
He disclosed that COCOBOD has already communicated the directive to LBCs, stressing that a repeat violation could trigger license revocation.
“The arrangement is to aid the shorter turnaround time for LBCs so that it can quicken the pace of purchases, eliminate indebtedness to banks and improve the efficiency and profitability of cocoa purchases. We have met as part of our stakeholder engagements, I have told them you are not supposed to buy cocoa on credit from farmers. We have all decided that we will go and sin no more.”
“So we are not withdrawing anybody’s license. But we have written to the effect that if it happens again, your license will be revoked because against the terms of your license. We have also told the farmers that LBCs are not supposed to buy cocoa on credit from you. So don’t go and take your cocoa to any purchasing clerk on credit,” Dr. Randy Abbey said.
The move comes as COCOBOD prepares to overhaul the financing of cocoa purchases, with the new funding model expected to provide sufficient liquidity for crop purchases and related operations throughout the year.
Dr. Abbey said the model, which is expected to take effect from the 2026/27 crop year, is designed to eliminate delays in payments to LBCs after they take over cocoa receipts from farmers.
“The new funding model is to ensure sufficient liquidity for cocoa purchases and related operations all year round. Hence beginning the 26/27 crop year, we hope to eliminate the delays in the payment of cocoa taking over receipts which has been the bane of LBC since 2020,” he remarked.
According to him, faster payment cycles will enable LBCs to accelerate purchases, reduce their indebtedness to financial institutions and improve the efficiency and profitability of cocoa marketing.
The COCOBOD CEO said the financing reforms are also critical to increasing domestic cocoa processing and value addition, as the previous funding structure required much of the crop to be collateralized for financing, limiting access to raw beans for local processors.
He said the new financing mechanism is intended to provide liquidity for cocoa procurement while supporting Ghana’s ambition to retain more value from its cocoa production domestically.
The reforms form part of the new Ghana Cocoa Board Bill 2026, which Dr. Abbey said guarantees cocoa farmers 70% of gross FOB value while allowing producer prices to be adjusted during the season in line with market indicators.
Dr. Randy Abbey said the broader reforms are aimed at improving the financial viability of the cocoa sector, strengthening the value chain and delivering more sustainable returns to farmers and other industry stakeholders.
“These measures and the new bill constitute the most significant reforms to our industry since 1984. So the COCOBOD Act until Parliament passed this new one was a 1984 Act. These reforms are resetting the cocoa sector for growth and industrialisation,” he stressed.
To curb post-harvest losses, and strenthening agrifood systems, it depends on the quality of agricultural human resources that Ghana possesses.
These resources are to be equipped to operate, maintain, improve to transform the sector for more productive, food-secure and prosperous nation.
Achieving this, the Government of Ghana through the leadership of H.E, President John Dramani Mahama considers investment in agricultural education as a national priority, placing agriculture at the centre of Ghana’s economic transformation through Feed Ghana Initiative.
As a results, the government has launched Ghana Agricultural for Educational Transformation to finance the agricultural education to strenthen food security.
Speaking at the launch at The Palms by Eagle Hotel in Airport City, Accra, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku said the Fund would support agricultural colleges, universities, technical institutions, research centres and other institutions responsible for training professionals for the sector.
He said the initiative is a key human-capital pillar of the government’s Feed Ghana Programme, stressing that sustainable agricultural transformation depended on skilled engineers, extension officers, researchers, technicians, entrepreneurs and agribusiness professionals.
The Minister said the Fund would help address infrastructure and capacity gaps in agricultural education, including laboratories, workshops, demonstration farms, modern machinery, digital learning tools, research and scholarships.
He announced ambitious targets to grow the Fund from its current seed founding of GH¢3.5 million to GH¢10 million by December 2026 and GH¢100 million by 2028.
Mr. Opoku commended five Ghanaian agribusinesses—Grow For Me, AgriSolve, Farmerline, Newage Agric Solutions and Tradeline Consult—for contributing to the initial seed funding.
He said the Fund would operate under a governance framework involving a Governing Board, independent technical administration, a Securities and Exchange Commission-licensed fund manager, a custodian bank and an independent external auditor to ensure transparency and accountability.
The Minister also called on banks, pension funds, insurance companies, agribusinesses, development partners, philanthropic organisations, alumni associations and individuals to contribute to the initiative.
He urged stakeholders to support specific interventions such as laboratories, workshops, demonstration farms, agricultural machinery, digital tools, applied research, scholarships and internships.
Mr. Opoku said the government’s long-term ambition was to establish the Fund as a permanent statutory institution under the policy oversight of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Declaring the Fund officially launched, the Minister said its ultimate goal was to equip generations of Ghanaians with the knowledge and practical skills required to increase food production, transform the economy and secure Ghana’s food future.
The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to transforming Ghana’s oil palm industry, with plans to support the establishment of 100,000 hectares of new oil palm plantations as part of efforts to boost domestic production, create jobs and reduce the country’s dependence on imported palm oil.
The Minister for Food and Agriculture, speaking at the National Oil Palm Multistakeholder Roundtable Forum in Accra on Wednesday, said the expansion programme would form part of a broader strategy to move the industry from policy commitments to measurable results.
Held under the theme “From Policy to Practice: The Role of TCDA in Resetting Ghana’s Oil Palm Industry,” the forum brought together government officials, the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), farmers, processors, investors, research institutions, development partners, traditional authorities and other actors across the oil palm value chain.
The Minister said Ghana had no shortage of policies and studies on agriculture, but stressed that the priority should now be implementation, coordination and accountability.
“Policy acquires value only when it changes lives,” the Minister said, stressing that the forum should produce clear commitments on responsibilities, timelines, resources and measurable targets.
Closing the production gap
According to the Minister, oil palm remains a strategic crop because of its links to both agriculture and industry. The crop supports farmers, nursery operators, transporters, processors, traders and manufacturers, while also providing opportunities for women and young people.
Beyond edible oil, palm products serve as raw materials for industries including soap and cosmetics manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, confectionery, animal feed and bioenergy.
However, Ghana continues to face a significant gap between domestic palm oil production and national demand, resulting in substantial imports.
The Minister described the deficit as more than a supply problem, saying it represents lost employment opportunities, underutilised processing capacity, reduced farmer incomes and foreign exchange that could otherwise remain in the domestic economy.
The situation, he added, also creates opportunities for smuggling and unfair competition, which undermine legitimate businesses and reduce government revenue.
TCDA to anchor industry transformation
The Minister identified the Tree Crops Development Authority, established under the Tree Crops Development Authority Act, 2019 (Act 1010), as the institutional anchor for the oil palm transformation agenda.
TCDA is expected to strengthen registration and licensing, production planning, industry data collection, traceability, quality assurance and coordination among stakeholders.
The Minister said formalisation should not be viewed by businesses as an administrative burden, but as a foundation for credibility, investor confidence, traceability and access to premium markets.
Government, he said, would support TCDA in enforcing industry standards fairly and consistently to protect compliant businesses, consumers and the reputation of Ghanaian palm oil.
Focus on productivity and smallholders
The Minister stressed that the proposed 100,000-hectare expansion should not be measured simply by acreage.
Success, he said, would depend on the quality of planting materials, farm productivity, farmer incomes, inclusion of smallholders, women and young people, secure land arrangements, environmental protection, access to finance, processing efficiency and stronger market linkages.
He called for increased access to high-yielding, climate-resilient and disease-tolerant planting materials, backed by research, certified nurseries, extension services and improved farm management.
Smallholder farmers, he said, must remain at the centre of the industry, with large-scale investment complemented by well-organised and adequately supported smallholder and outgrower schemes.
Farmers must also have access to secure markets, transparent pricing, extension services and affordable inputs, while receiving a fair share of the value generated along the chain.
Land, finance and processing
The Minister also highlighted land tenure and access to finance as major constraints to oil palm development.
Because oil palm is a long-term investment, he called for patient financing arrangements that take into account the crop’s gestation period. Financial institutions, he said, should develop suitable products for nurseries, farmers, aggregators and processors.
Traditional authorities, landowners, district assemblies and investors were urged to promote transparent land arrangements that benefit local communities while reducing potential conflicts.
The Minister further called for investments in efficient processing facilities, storage, logistics, quality control and reliable off-take arrangements.
He said Ghana should move beyond increasing production of fresh fruit bunches to developing more finished palm-based products for domestic consumption and export.
Sustainability and inclusion
Sustainability and traceability were also identified as critical to the industry’s future.
The Minister said Ghana’s oil palm expansion must avoid the destruction of forests and environmentally sensitive landscapes while improving productivity on existing plantations and bringing suitable new areas into production.
He noted that international markets increasingly demand evidence of product origin, environmental responsibility, decent labour practices and quality.
Women and young people, he added, should have deliberate opportunities across production, aggregation, processing, technology, logistics and enterprise development.
Call for coordinated action
The Minister emphasised that the transformation could not be achieved by government alone.
He called for stronger collaboration among the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, TCDA, other government institutions, research organisations, financial institutions, development partners, district assemblies, traditional authorities, farmer organisations and the private sector.
Government, he said, would focus on creating an enabling environment and providing strategic public investment, while the private sector would be expected to contribute capital, technology, innovation, efficiency and access to markets.
The Minister urged participants to ensure that partnerships translated into clear commitments, shared risks, defined responsibilities and measurable outcomes.
He said future assessments of the programme should focus on tangible results, including certified nurseries, productive farms, functioning mills, new businesses, decent jobs, increased domestic palm oil supply and reduced imports.
The Minister said Ghana had the land, climate, knowledge, entrepreneurial capacity and market opportunities required to become a leading producer and processor of sustainable palm oil.
He described the proposed industry reset as a shift from fragmented interventions to coordinated action, low productivity to higher yields, informal operations to a traceable industry, and import dependence to greater national self-reliance and export competitiveness.
At harvest time in Ghana’s cashew-growing communities, the ground beneath the trees tells a familiar story.
While farmers carefully collect the nuts that will be sold to buyers, the fleshy cashew apples attached to them are often left behind. Within hours, the fruit begins to spoil, turning a potentially valuable part of the harvest into waste.
Ghana is one of Africa’s leading cashew producers, harvesting roughly a quarter of a million tonnes of raw cashew nuts each year. The trees also produce far more cashew apples than nuts and industry officials say most of the fruit is never processed or sold.
For decades, the cashew apple has remained largely outside the market economy. Farmers have had few buyers for the fruit, and without nearby processing facilities, transporting it before it spoils is difficult.
Now, researchers, farmers and industry leaders believe the discarded fruit could become a new source of income for rural communities – if Ghana can build the systems needed to collect, process and market it.
From waste to value
For Francisca Aba Ansah, the opportunity became clear after field visits revealed the scale of cashew apple waste. She is a food post-harvest scientist at the CSIR-Food Research Institute and project lead for MA-CASH, a research initiative focused on expanding value from cashew production.
“MA-CASH basically means Maximising Gains from Cashew Production for Youth Development,” Ansah told Al Jazeera. “The project started by looking at the level of waste in growing areas and the processing options available.”
An even bigger barrier was the fruit’s short shelf life. Fresh cashew apples can spoil within 24 hours of harvest, making transport from farms to processing centres problematic.
“When you harvest cashew apples, within 24 hours it goes bad,” she said. “We developed the technology that allows farmers to keep it for up to six days before it is shipped to the processing centre. When it gets there, it can be refrigerated for the whole year for production.”
The preservation technology has been tested through pilot work under the project and could make commercial collection and processing possible for the first time in many farming communities.
The project is also exploring off-season income opportunities, including beekeeping under cashew plantations.
“During the off-season, when you will not be working there, you can actually do beekeeping,” she said. “The honey that comes from cashew has good quality, so farmers can still have their business running.”
Beyond the nut
For some farmers, the idea of creating value from cashew apples is already moving from possibility to practice.
Samuel Nortey Adumoah has experimented with turning the fruit into pito, a traditional local drink, as well as wine and other beverages.
Cashew apples are processed into juice and other products in Ghana as researchers seek to reduce waste and expand value-added production [Courtesy: CSIR Ghana]
Like many farmers, he once viewed the cashew apple as little more than a by-product. Now he believes it could become an important source of income.
“Cashew beverages have strong market potential,” Adumoah told Al Jazeera. “I call on investors to come into this space to assist us because it is very lucrative.”
His experience reflects both the promise and the challenge of building a new industry. Farmers can create products, but scaling those ideas requires investment, infrastructure and reliable links to markets.
The missing supply chain
Raphael Godlove Ahenu, National Coordinator of Cashew Watch Ghana, says many farmers still need support to understand the economic possibilities beyond the nut.
The organisation has been working with farmers, particularly in the Bono Region, to promote value addition and encourage communities to explore processing opportunities.
“For the past two years, we have been mobilising farmers into groups and educating them on how to process cashew into fruit juice and other products, apart from selling the nut to foreign companies,” Ahenu told Al Jazeera.
But he warns that processing facilities alone will not guarantee success.
“This is not the first time a cashew processing factory has been established,” Ahenu said. “Some private companies have set up processing plants, but unfortunately many have struggled or collapsed because they could not secure enough supply from farmers.”
Many farmers depend on advance financing from export buyers supplying major markets such as India and Vietnam, which often determines where their produce is sold.
“Most of the time, foreign buyers give farmers soft loans during the off-season,” he said. “Before the cashew season arrives, farmers have already taken money and are compelled to sell to these buyers.”
Without alternative financing, farmers may struggle to participate in new value chains, even when opportunities emerge.
Creating demand
Financial experts believe cashew apple processing could create additional revenue streams and strengthen farmers’ ability to access credit.
Aaron Owusu Nketia, a financial adviser and loan officer working with cashew farmers in the Bono Region, said local processing could improve confidence among farmers and lenders.
“If the government is able to establish processing factories for cashew upcycling, it will help farmers with additional revenue streams to pay back their loans, and it will encourage banks to give more loans to farmers,” Nketia told Al Jazeera.
But creating an industry requires more than producing new products. Cashew apple juice and other products must compete with established beverages and convince consumers that a fruit once treated as waste has commercial value.
For Robert Abongo, a teacher and community support activist working with farmers in Sekyeredumasi in Ashanti Region, awareness remains a major challenge.
“Most farmers rely solely on the nuts,” Abongo told Al Jazeera. “The government must intensify education on value addition so farmers will be informed and plan with the fruits in mind instead of relying only on the seeds.”
A strategic resource
The government believes cashew apple processing could become part of Ghana’s wider agricultural transformation agenda.
Andrews Osei Okrah, Chief Executive Officer of the Tree Crops Development Authority, said the fruit is increasingly being recognised as more than just an agricultural by-product.
“Once regarded as a by-product, the cashew apple is now a strategic economic resource with immense potential to drive agro-industrialisation, create jobs, improve rural livelihoods and contribute to Ghana’s economic growth,” Osei Okrah told Al Jazeera.
Bottles of cashew apple juice produced in Ghana as part of efforts to turn the often-discarded fruit into a marketable product [Courtesy: CSIR Ghana]
Ghana now has an opportunity but must focus on implementation, said John Y. Kupagme, a researcher and head of the Agriculture Sector at the African Chamber of Content Producers.
“The policy framework provides a solid foundation. What is needed now is coordinated action and sustained investment,” Kupagme told Al Jazeera.
The next harvest
The push to develop a cashew apple economy comes as Ghana searches for ways to diversify agricultural income.
For years, Ghana’s cashew farmers measured the value of their harvest by the nuts they carried away.
Now, they are beginning to look at the fruit that was once left behind. Whether it becomes a new source of income will depend on if Ghana can build a value chain that works from the farm to the factory and finally to consumers.
As another harvest season approaches, the cashew apples will once again fall beneath the trees. The question is whether they will be left to spoil, or collected, processed and sold as the crop that Ghana has been overlooking all along.
“We have the fruits. We have the ideas. We just need the investment to make it work,” Ahenu said.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is to launch the Agricultural Education Transformation Fund to to provide sustainable financing for agricultural education, skills development, innovation, mechanization and agribusiness enterprise in Ghana.
The official launch would be held on Tuesday, 11th August 2026 at the Palms By Eagles Hotel at 10am.
In a press release issued by the Ministry, the National Endowment Fund seeks to strengthen agricultural education by mobilising long-term investments to support teaching, practical training, research, innovation, infrastructure and entrepreneurship across agricultural education institutions.
Unlike one-off grants, the AETF is designed as a permanent endowment that preserves its capital while using annual investment returns to finance approved priorities.
According to release, currently, commitments of GHC 3.5 million have been secured towards the Fund, with an initial endowment target of GHC 10million and GHC 100million by December 2026 and December 2028 respectively.
Over time, the Fund is expected to support practical learning, mechanization, research, innovation, technology development, faculty development, scholarships and institutional strengthening across beneficiary institutions.
The Ministry acknowledges the invaluable contribution of the Coalition of Agribusiness Partners whose vision, commitment and investment have been instrumental in bringing the AETF to fruition.
Their collective support reflects not only their confidence in the leadership of the Honorable Minister and His Excellency the President, but also their unwavering belief that transforming agricultural education is the foundation upon which Ghana’s agricultural and economic transformation will be built.
The launch will bring together representatives from government, academia, development partners, financial institutions, agribusinesses, farmer organizations and the private sector to demonstrate a shared commitment to building a sustainable financing platform for agricultural education in Ghana.
The Ministry invites all stakeholders to support the Agricultural Education Transformation Fund and contribute to building a stronger, more innovative and resilient agricultural sector through investment in education and human capital.
ABC Oye Asase Yie, a fertilizer distribution company, has donated 200 bags of organic fertilizers to support the 42nd Farmers’ Day Celebration that will be held at Sunyani in the Bono Region.
Farmers’ Day is a day set aside to honour and recognise the ardent farmers who have contributed immensely to safeguard Ghana’s food security.
“We are here to donate some of our sample fertilizers to support the Farmers’ Day programme. It is an organic fertilizer; however, it can also be used for conventional production”, the representative from ABC Oye Asase Yie explained.
Giving merit to organic fertilizer, he said that it maintains soil structure, water retention in the soil, and nutrient release for plants.
He stated that the sample fertilizers were formulated outside Ghana, but the company is far advanced in building its production plant with a value of USD$55 million, which would contribute to employment.
He underscored the farmers’ contribution to sustaining the lives of individuals in Ghana and across.
Receiving the inputs, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku, commended ABC Asase Yie for its generous support for farmers’ development.
He reiterated that the 42nd Farmers’ Day would be celebrated at Sunyani in the Bono Region to reward the hardworking farmers.
He stressed that the ministry is receiving donations from corporate entities, companies, individuals, and from everywhere to support the celebration.
“We want to assure you that whatever you have given us today will be given to the Ghanaian farmers, and eventually it will lead to increased production for the benefit of the Ghanaian people, ” the Minister added.
For forty years, the industry that built modern Ghana has been run under a law written for a different country. The Ghana Cocoa Board Act of 1984 (P.N.D.C.L. 81) belonged to an era of a single state buyer, guaranteed European demand and cheap credit. It has limped into an age of the Living Income Differential, the European Union’s deforestation rules, galamsey, swollen shoot, smuggling across porous borders, an ageing farmer population and a COCOBOD balance sheet groaning under legacy debt. So, the arrival of the Ghana Cocoa Board Bill, 2026 laid before Parliament by the Finance Minister on 22 July was overdue and, in the main, welcome.
Read it closely, as every farmer, licensed buying company, hauler, grinder and chocolatier should, and you will find a Bill that diagnoses the sector’s ailments with unusual honesty. My worry, having spent years advising along this value chain, is not the diagnosis. It is that a handful of clauses prescribe a cure that could quietly hand the patient’s welfare to the Treasury, thin the farmer’s voice to a whisper, and leave the most vulnerable actors, smallholders and craft processors outside the clinic door. Below, I set out what the Bill gets right, what it gets wrong, and how to fix the latter before it becomes law.
What the Bill gets right A statutory price floor for farmers (Clause 57). For the first time, the law would guarantee that the producer price for a crop season “shall not be less than 70% of the Gross Free on Board price” (Clause 57(3)). This is a genuine victory for cocoa households and a fitting statutory home for the ambition behind the Living Income Differential. Coupled with a legal basis for the long-informal Producer Price Review Committee, it drags pricing out of the shadows of administrative discretion and into daylight.
A firewall against the misuse of COCOBOD as a national piggy-bank (Clause 4). Much of the Board’s ruinous debt was accumulated financing things that had little to do with a cocoa pod: roads, bridges and assorted “interventions”. Clause 4 now forbids the Board from engaging in “social, quasi-fiscal, welfare or community intervention programmes” unless they are directly linked to the sustainability, productivity or integrity of the sector, and voids any expenditure that breaches this, with personal surcharge liability for those responsible. This is precisely the fiscal discipline the sector has needed for a generation.
Grown-up rules for hedging and an end to casino finance (Clauses 28, 36–39). The Bill bans speculative investment outright (Clause 28) and wraps hedging in documented risk assessments, value-for-money analysis, independent audit, and mandatory reporting to the Minister, Parliament and the Auditor-General (Clauses 36–37). Significantly, officers who occasion a loss through breach are made “jointly and severally liable to surcharge and recovery” (Clause 37). After the forward-selling misadventures of recent years, this is the right lesson learned.
Ring-fencing the legacy debt (Clauses 46–49, 56). Separating the historic debt into a Sinking Fund and a ring-fenced resolution framework means each season’s purchases need no longer be strangled by yesterday’s borrowing. Done transparently, this is how you make the Board bankable again.
A pension and an education trust for farming families (Clauses 40–45). A contributory Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme and an Educational Trust for farmers’ children address the quiet scandal of a workforce that enriches the nation yet retires into penury. These are among the most humane provisions in the Bill.
Traceability built for the EU era (Clauses 84–90). The Cocoa Management System and farm-to-port Traceability System, anchored in the Data Protection Act, are not bureaucratic luxuries; they are the passport to the EU market under the Deforestation Regulation. Ghana cannot sell what it cannot trace.
A buffer against galamsey (Clause 83) and a line against child labour (Clause 91). Protecting cocoa farms from extractive activity within 500 metres, and prohibiting child, forced and hazardous labour, codify commitments the sector’s reputation depends on. Credit where it is due. This is a serious, modernising Bill. But good intentions poorly drafted become bad law.
Where it needs fixing and how
Do not let the Treasury capture the cocoa purse (Clauses 5, 7, 33) The Bill returns oversight of COCOBOD to the Ministry of Finance and threads the Finance Minister through almost every consequential decision: nominating the chairperson, two farmer members and two “experienced” members of the Board (Clause 7), approving hedging policy, borrowing, subsidiaries and tax exemptions, and deciding how much “excess” is swept to the Consolidated Fund (Clause 33). It is a Bill sponsored by the Finance Minister that concentrates power in the Finance Minister. The danger is that when fiscal targets collide with farmer welfare, the farmer loses.
My recommendation is to insulate operational and pricing decisions from short-term fiscal pressure. Appoint the CEO and chairperson through a transparent, competitive process rather than sole ministerial nomination (Clause 7); and in Clause 33, make it explicit that no surplus may be swept to the Consolidated Fund until the Stabilisation and Diversification Fund and statutory reserves are fully funded. The Consolidated Fund must never again be allowed to raid the farmer’s rainy-day money.
Give farmers a real seat, not a token one (Clause 7) Farmers grow one hundred per cent of the crop and hold roughly one-sixth of the boardroom, just two “award-winning” members, hand-picked by the Minister, against four government representatives, the CEO, two staff and two further ministerial appointees. “Award-winning” is a vague and gameable criterion, and ministerial selection makes these seats an extension of government rather than a voice for cocoa farmers.
My recommendation is to increase farmer representation to at least three or four members, nominated or elected by recognised, audited farmer-based organisations rather than the Minister, with published selection criteria. Retain, and indeed strengthen the welcome requirement that at least two members be women (Clause 7(2)), and add a youth seat. A board that the farmers themselves helped choose is a board they will trust.
Close the “70% of gross” loophole before it opens (Clauses 52, 57) The price floor is 70% of the Gross FOB price, yet the Bill separately defines a Net FOB price as gross minus industry costs, statutory deductions and “stabilisation charges” (interpretation clause), and it lets the Minister set the stabilisation levy as an open-ended “percentage… as determined by the Minister” (Clause 52). If that levy and other deductions are set aggressively, the headline 70% can be hollowed out in practice.
I recommend capping total deductions in the Act, or set the stabilisation levy within a statutory band subject to parliamentary approval (Clause 52); require that the pricing formula’s variables and weights be published each season (the Bill already defines the formula as including them); and anchor the floor to a rolling multi-season average of realised FOB so that a single bad hedging year cannot drag the guaranteed price down (Clause 57).
Protect farmer services from the anti-sprawl clause (Clauses 4, 5) Clause 4’s discipline is right, but its language is broad, and Clause 5 lets the Minister order the Board to “discontinue or restructure” any activity s/he deems inconsistent with its object. In the wrong hands, extension services, mass spraying, disease control and replanting could be recast as “welfare” and cut.
I recommend adding an explicit proviso to Clause 4 that agronomic extension, pest and disease control (notably swollen shoot control and rehabilitation), seedling and input support, and farmer pension and education schemes are deemed core functions directly linked to productivity and integrity and are therefore protected from the Clause 5 power.
Make the galamsey buffer bite (Clause 83) As drafted, the 500-metre no-mining buffer is triggered only where an extractive activity “affects a water body specified under section 17” of the Minerals and Mining Act. That qualifier is a loophole; a pit 400 metres from a cocoa farm that does not happen to touch a gazetted water body may escape.
Here, I propose we make the 500-metre buffer around a protected farm absolute, not contingent on affecting a water body; extend it to reconnaissance and prospecting; require the Minerals Commission to refuse or relocate any licence encroaching on a protected farm; and mandate land-restoration bonds. A buffer with an escape hatch is not a buffer.
Do not lock smallholders and craft processors out of the market (Clauses 60, 85, 106–107) Two provisions risk excluding the very people the Bill claims to serve. Clause 85 would prohibit the production, purchase or sale of cocoa by any farm not yet registered on the Cocoa Management System, a fair long-term goal, but a cliff-edge for remote, elderly or newly planting farmers on the wrong side of the digital divide. And the fit-and-proper capital tests (Clause 60) plus the requirement that processors buy through the Board (Clause 107) could shut out the small chocolatiers the memorandum itself says it wants to help.
I prose in Clause 85, we provide a defined grace period with free, assisted, offline-capable registration before any prohibition bites, and treat traceability service fees (Clause 88) as a cost to the Board, never a levy on the farmer. In Clauses 60 and 106, create a tiered “artisanal/craft processor” licence with proportionate capital requirements and a guaranteed bean allocation at LID-inclusive prices, so value addition is not the preserve of large firms alone.
Make the in-house justice system visibly independent (Clauses 96–105) The Dispute Resolution Committee and the Cocoa Board Tribunal will often adjudicate disputes in which the Board itself is a party, yet the Board appoints them and their registrar. No one should be a judge in their own cause.
I propose requiring majority-external membership of the Dispute Resolution Committee, ring-fence its budget, and guarantee farmers and small operators access to legal support. The existing right of appeal to the High Court (Clause 105) is welcome and should be preserved.
Put the real rules in the Act, not in future regulations Too much that matters- the stabilisation percentage, local-processing threshold, fees, hedging thresholds and details of the pricing formula is left to Regulations and ministerial discretion. Parliament should legislate the guardrails, not merely bless them later.
I recommend fixing key parameters (a deductions cap, a stabilisation-levy band, a minimum local-processing floor, and a statutory maximum period for paying farmers, with penalty interest for late payment) in the Act itself; require every Regulation to be laid before Parliament; and add a mandatory five-year review of the entire framework.
The bottom line The Ghana Cocoa Board Bill, 2026 is the most consequential cocoa legislation in four decades, and on balance it deserves to pass. It ends the era of COCOBOD as an off-budget spending vehicle, gives farmers a statutory price floor and a pension, brings hedging under adult supervision, and builds the traceability spine the export market now demands. These are real improvements, and the drafters should be commended. But a law is only as good as the incentives it locks in. If the president assents to it unamended, it risks trading one imbalance for another, swapping fiscal indiscipline for fiscal capture, and a bloated mandate for a boardroom in which the people who grow the beans can barely be heard. The fixes I have set out are neither radical nor expensive. They are the difference between a Bill that modernises the cocoa sector and one that merely refinances it.
Cocoa is not just Ghana’s crop; it is Ghana’s story. We should make certain the next chapter is written with the farmer in the room, and not merely on the letterhead.
Invest in Africa (IIA) has opened applications for the MicroGREEN Programme, a major initiative aimed at empowering 1,000 young entrepreneurs in Ghana and Senegal to build sustainable businesses and create green jobs.
Funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the programme targets youth aged 18 to 35 operating enterprises within the agroforestry, fisheries, aquaculture and biodiversity value chains.
In Ghana, the initiative will focus on entrepreneurs in Greater Accra, Eastern, Ashanti, Bono, Western and Central Region.
Priority will be given to young women (60 per cent), persons with disabilities (10 per cent) and other youth (30 per cent) to promote inclusive economic growth.
Successful applicants will receive entrepreneurship training, tailored business development support and mentorship, while also benefiting from opportunities to strengthen their access to markets and finance.
The initiative is expected to stimulate job creation, improve livelihoods and support Africa’s transition to a greener and more resilient economy.
Applications are open until September 18, 2026. Eligible entrepreneurs are encouraged to submit their applications through the official MicroGREEN Programme website – www.microgreen.africa.
Submitted applications will be assessed through a transparent and competitive selection process.
Participation in the programme is free of charge, and applicants are not required to make any payment at any stage.
Commenting on the launch of the call for applications, Carol Annang, Country Director of Invest in Africa Ghana, described the programme as a timely investment into Ghana’s green economy.
She said, “Across the country, entrepreneurs are developing innovative solutions to climate change, food security, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods.”
She added: “We encourage all eligible entrepreneurs particularly youth, women, PWDS to seize this opportunity to transform bold ideas into thriving green enterprises that will help build a more sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous Ghana.”
About the MicroGREEN Programme
The MicroGREEN Programme is financed through the African Development Bank’s Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA) and the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI-MDTF).
About Invest In Africa
Invest in Africa is a non-profit organisation that supports micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by improving access to markets, finance and business development services to enhance their competitiveness and growth.
The Minister for Food and Agriculture has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting the reintegration of Ghanaian graduates trained in modern agriculture, describing them as a critical resource in advancing the country’s agricultural transformation agenda.
Speaking during a courtesy call by Ghanaian graduates of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), sponsored by the African Agribusiness Consortium (AAC) and the Jospong Group of Companies, at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, the Minister, Hon. Eric Opoku said the graduates’ expertise would play an important role in implementing the government’s Feed Ghana Agenda.
Addressing the gathering, which included officials of the Ministry, the African Agribusiness Consortium, the Jospong Group of Companies and members of the media, the Minister congratulated the graduates on successfully completing their studies and urged them to apply the knowledge and skills acquired abroad to transform Ghana’s agricultural sector.
“The successful completion of your studies is a remarkable achievement, and your return home marks the beginning of an important chapter not only in your individual careers but also in Ghana’s agricultural transformation,” the Minister said.
He noted that Ghana requires highly skilled and innovative professionals capable of applying modern agricultural science, technology and management practices to increase productivity, strengthen food systems and enhance value addition across the agricultural value chain.
The Minister reiterated that agriculture remains central to the government’s economic transformation agenda, with the Feed Ghana Agenda aimed at boosting food production, strengthening food security, creating sustainable jobs, promoting agribusiness development and reducing the country’s dependence on food imports.
He observed that Ghana possesses abundant arable land, favourable climatic conditions and enormous agricultural potential, adding that unlocking these opportunities would require skilled human resources, investment, innovation and strong partnerships.
To support the graduates’ transition into the agricultural sector, the Minister assured them that the Ministry would collaborate closely with the African Agribusiness Consortium, the Jospong Group of Companies and other stakeholders to facilitate practical opportunities for them.
He explained that, within existing government policies and programmes, the Ministry would continue to support access to agricultural opportunities, including land development initiatives, irrigation support and strategic partnerships to enable the graduates to contribute meaningfully to the implementation of the Feed Ghana Agenda.
“Our objective is simple: to ensure that the expertise you have acquired translates into increased agricultural productivity, enhanced food security, job creation and national economic growth,” he stated.
The Minister also commended the African Agribusiness Consortium and the Jospong Group of Companies for investing in Ghana’s human capital through the sponsorship of specialised agricultural education abroad.
He described the initiative as a demonstration of visionary leadership and a long-term commitment to developing the next generation of agricultural professionals capable of transforming Ghana’s food systems.
According to him, the collaboration between the private sector and agricultural development represents the type of partnership needed to accelerate sustainable growth in the country.
He therefore encouraged other private sector institutions, agribusinesses, development partners and industry players to emulate the initiative by investing in the development of young people.
Addressing the graduates directly, the Minister urged them to embrace innovation, remain committed to continuous learning and dedicate their expertise to addressing the practical challenges confronting farmers and agribusinesses across the country.
He said the future of agriculture belongs to young professionals who are innovative, technologically driven and entrepreneurial, adding that their success would inspire more young Ghanaians to pursue careers in agriculture.
The Minister assured the graduates that the Ministry’s doors remain open and expressed the government’s readiness to work with them in building a modern, productive and competitive agricultural sector.
He concluded by calling for collective efforts to build a resilient agricultural sector capable of feeding the nation, creating prosperity and securing a brighter future for generations to come.
![Cashew apples are processed into juice and other products in Ghana as researchers seek to reduce waste and expand value-added production [Courtesy: CSIR Ghana]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/1001552917-1786115901.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C578&quality=80)
![Bottles of cashew apple juice produced in Ghana as part of efforts to turn the often-discarded fruit into a marketable product. [Courtesy: CSIR Ghana]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/1001552916-1-1786115904.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C578&quality=80)
