The advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) tends to produce wholesome foods which in turn might increase the price of foods. Thanks to the development of AFCTA Ghanaians are most likely to buy farm produce at exorbitant prices.
This was divulged during the Ghana Economic Forum 2020 with the theme: Resetting the Economy Beyond COVID-19; Building Economic Resilience and Self-sufficiency at Kempinski Hotel, Accra.
On the break-out session, experts from all walks of discipline namely academia, agribusiness, financial institution, and consultancy deliberated on the topic; building sustainable agro-economic models for Ghana’s self-sufficiency, Mr. Robert Dovlo, CEO of REEL consult said that Ghanaians must prepare to pay a higher price for food commodities.
According to Mr. Dovlo, to build a sustainable agro-economy, the advent of AFCFTA requires Ghanaians to protect the agribusiness sector since it is one of the models of paying relatively expensive prices for food commodities to enhance quality and to upscale production in order to compete with other African countries.
“AFCFTA is a good opportunity to revamp our economy but we must be prepared to pay higher prices for our food commodities because our producers would have to upscale production, and add value to their products to meet the competitive market. As such it would underline agribusiness’ growing reputation for resilience and once again demonstrates its effectiveness at the AFCFTA”, he underscored.
The CEO of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, Mr. Anthony Morrison added that Ghanaians must be prepared to pay a higher amount of money to purchase food commodities to leverage on production with competitors in terms of quality goods.
He expounded the need for Ghana to mitigate selling its raw materials and do value addition to its raw products for higher income. “As a country, we cannot survive the AFCFTA with other African countries by continuing selling our raw materials, we need to do value addition to our products to meet continental standards”, he said.
Withal, he said Ghana imports about 70% of human resources to the sector which makes production costly. The high cost of agricultural experts from other countries he added drains farmers’ resources leaving them with nothing at the end of production. Therefore, to ensure sustainability and economic self-sufficient Ghanaians should prepare to pay high for food.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Shai Osudoku, Hon. Daniel Teye Akuffo has lamented the rate at which real estate developers are taking over greenbelt lands earmarked for agriculture purposes.
The issue, he said, needed policy intervention by the government with support from the chiefs and opinion leaders in the District to preserve the greenbelt for its intended purposes.
He said if care was not taken the future of agriculture would be bleak due to the practice.
Mr. Akuffo said this during the 36th National Farmers Day on the theme: “Ensuring Agribusiness Development under Covid-19: Challenges and Opportunities” at Kadjanya in the Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.
Mr. Akuffo said data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation indicated that over 78 percent of the world food needs were met by small scale farmers.
For this reason, he said, investing in agriculture is one of the most effective strategies for modeling a resilient economy by ensuring food security and employment.
He said lessons should be learned from the droughts from 1982 to 1983, coupled with the devastating effects of bushfires in 1984, which reduced agricultural yield drastically, resulting in famine.
“This is enough reason for us as a nation or district to refocus our energies on formulating better agricultural policies,” he said.
“It is, therefore, noteworthy to commend the visionary leadership and good policies of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo for launching a number of unprecedented agricultural sector support initiatives aimed at modernizing agriculture and creating gainful employment for the citizens.”
He said the strategic location of the District, which had the benefit of the Kpong Irrigation Scheme, had 3,136 hectares of land for banana and rice cultivation.
He said the Assembly, in collaboration with the people of Atrobinya in the Eastern Region, established 15 hectares of coconut plantation and another 15 hectares of Mahogany and Acacia at Kordiabe with a total of 126 farmers under the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project.
Mr. Jonathan Nartey, the Director of Agriculture, said the Department of Agriculture, in its drive to reach more farmers, intensified the strategy of developing farmer-based Organizations (FBOs) and had, therefore, instituted the best FBO special award.
Ghana has banned poultry imports from the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, and Denmark over bird flu.
The government has temporarily banned the importation of domestic birds as well as their products from the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Denmark and the United Kingdom with immediate effect.
This came following the outbreak of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza subtype H5N8 from these European countries.
A Press Statement issued by the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Agric, Robert P. Ankobiah said: “Importers are to note that all importation permits that were issued for such consignment from the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have been rendered invalid with immediate effect.”
The ministry stressed that day-old chicks, hatching eggs, frozen chicken, poultry products, and poultry feeds have all been affected by the ban.
Hon. Yaw Osei Boahen, presenting an award to the Overall Youth Best Farmer at the municipality.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Asunafo North Municipal Assembly, Hon. Yaw Osei Boahen has urged the youth to exhibit a strong feeling for agriculture. He made this statement during the 36th Farmers’ Day Celebration with the theme “ENSURING AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT UNDER COVID 19 OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES” at PomaaKrom, a conurbation in the Asunafo North Municipality of the Ahafo Region.
“Farming plays a pivotal role in our national development, more importantly, the survival of every individual relies on the gallant farmers who sweat each day to provide food on our table”, he said.
Addressing the media, Hon. Boahen stated that over the years the youth have not been engaged in farming due to some numerous reasons which are best known to them.
“There is some erroneous perception that farming is a punishment therefore, it is not prudent to involve in farming, particularly the elite”, he stated. He encouraged the youth to rise from their slumber and partake in farming activities but should not rely only on white colour jobs. He stressed that farming is very critical in accelerating the growth and development of this country.
He used this great opportunity as a voluminous conduit and commended H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the president of the Republic of Ghana for the implementation of numerous farming policies and programmes.
“The Planting for Food and Jobs has made farming very attractive, created jobs, and brought relief to the teaming youth. The Rearing for Food and Jobs has also motivated thousands of youth who are now into livestock farming. Cocoa Pollination has added a significant value to Cocoa farming and created employment for the youth, he added.
Officers from the Ghana National Fire Service educated the congregants on how to curb bush fire in a drama, particularly during the dry season. The drama also taught the general public not to use Candlelight and Insecticide Spray at the same time because it could easily cause a fire outbreak.
The best youth farmer, best animal farmer, best crop farmer, etc
Mr. Bernard Donkor, a native of Mim who emerged as the 2020 overall best farmer for the Municipality called on the Government of Ghana to intensify the support to farmers. He eulogized the president for the increment of Cocoa price.
“There is no need for a crop authority, Ghana just needs an agriculture regulatory authority and put all other government quangos underneath and get the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to concentrate on policy formulation and policy implementation like the Ministry of Energy is doing now”, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Agribusiness Anthony Morrison has said.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had earlier in September inaugurated the Tree Crops Development Authority with a focus to develop seven tree crops, namely mango, cashew, shea, rubber, cocoa, palm, and coffee and the consequential benefits to be accrued to the country.
The Authority, which operates like COCOBOD, and puts in place policies and programmes to guide research, production, pricing, and marketing the selected tree crops.
However, according to Mr. Morrison, the multiplicity of these authorities has only brought power play into the sector and is “now dissipating the front of farmers from being strong and robust”.
He maintained that with a good measure of internally generated funds flowing in, what Ghana needs to do is to develop a comprehensive national policy on agriculture that will serve as a blueprint.
He is of the view that “the blueprint must be focused on technology adoption; where the financier understands the blueprint. What is our model? We don’t have it? So, there is no actual blueprint out there and the National Development Planning Commission should be involving the private sector to understand what the blueprint is all about for the agricultural sector”.
He bemoaned the abundance of obsolete data and the absence of data in some cases and called for a centralized, robust, and timely data system to be created to improve policy formulation and implementation.
“What informs us? When you look at most of the proposals that we put out there, some of the data are as far back as 1997, 1983, 1973, and 1973 data. Data as old as 10 years when other countries are using data that is as new as 3 months, 6 months or 12 months,” he lamented.
He called for cross-sectoral collaborations, capacity building, strategy, advocacy, and a deep intelligent system to boost the gains in the sector while encouraging duty bearers to work towards establishing a national seed bank.
“For me, it is about the seed economy. Do we have control of what we plant? If we don’t, then what we eat, you do not have control over.”
The recently released 2017/2018 census on agriculture revealed that about 87 of agricultural holders have either basic education or no formal education.
This, according to the Ghana Statistical Service precludes them from appreciating the technology required to drive a productive agricultural sector.
But reacting to the agric census results, the Agribusiness Chamber boss said “the worst is that, that over 80 percent are above the age of 65 and that puts Ghana in a very serious problem in the next two to three years”.
“That’s not even my worry. My worry is youth in agriculture today are not more and the people producing for this country today, are above the age of sixty-five. Look at all our national best farmers, how many of them fall below the age of fifty or forty? That should tell you the situation. I am telling you, food security will be a problem.
“Over 80 percent of agriculture belongs to foreigners in this country. Are you aware?” a worried Morrison asked.
“Going into a year of AfCFTA where we begin to look at whether or not we are on the global stage or we are still far away from where a lot of the countries are. This is the time to look at it.”
The Chamber of Aquaculture (COA) Ghana salutes all Farmers on the 36th edition of National Farmers Day. The COA acknowledges the resilience of Farmers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of Farmers in an agrarian nation like Ghana cannot be overemphasized. During the COVID-19 lockdown, our Farmers (both peasant and commercial) rose to the occasion to provide the nutritional needs of our dear nation despite the countless challenges they are confronted with daily.
The Chamber would like to assure our esteemed Farmers that it would continue to present research, facts, and policy preferences to persuade the government and other stakeholders into action. The Advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) calls for greater efficiency in production and collaboration between industry players. To this effect, we will continue to advocate for more sustainable production practices and the adoption of modern methods of aquaculture through our partnerships with businesses, academia, host communities of fish farms, and relevant state agencies.
Considering the negative impact of unsustainable farming practices on the aquaculture sector, we would like to call on the government to ensure that businesses in the aquaculture sector are properly regulated. We would also like to challenge the government to ensure equity in the distribution of resources to the farming fraternity. The aquaculture sector has been neglected on many occasions when it comes to the distribution of resources. Indeed, the aquaculture sector holds the key to the dwindling fisheries sector. Finally, the Chamber would like to say a big thank you to all individuals and organizations that in diverse ways support the aquaculture sector in Ghana.
Long live Ghana! Long Live Our Able Hardworking Farmers of Ghana!
Agriculture has proven to be the oldest and greatest back-bone to the economic development of Ghana. Undoubtedly, it is still the power-house of the country’s development. With the enormous contributions from the sector, past and current governments continue to draft and implement policies to help advance the sector’s role in the development of Ghana’s economy.
The sector’s contribution saw the establishment of Agricultural training colleges to train the frontline staff to man the dissemination of modern agricultural technologies to farmers to boost production in the country.
After the establishment of the agricultural colleges notably; Kwadaso and Ejura in the Ashanti Region, Damongo in the Savannah region, Animal Health and Production College, Pong-Tamale, Northern region and the Ohawu Agricultural College in the Volta region. These institutions have trained various categories of agriculture frontline staff in the agricultural development of Ghana. But the journey of training these staff for the sector has had its bit of challenges in realising the full purpose it was instituted.
To begin, Ohawu and Ejura colleges were established on the mandate to train young persons in the field of agriculture engineering, Kwadaso and Damongo for crops production training, and Pong at Tamale to train certified veterinary officers for the agriculture sector but the story behind the establishment is not the same as the story has changed with lack of infrastructure riding on the shoulders of these institutions.
To shorten the story, it responds to the position of resourcing the Agriculture College to adequately deliver their mandate rather than upgrading them into fully-fledged universities in Ghana.
In separate articles with stories from political parties manifestoes and promises notably from the camp of the National Democratic Party (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in their rallies to canvass vote in the December 7 general election, they come with the various political gimmicks to upgrade the Ohawu Agricultural College into the University of Agriculture and Agribusiness, the Animal Health, and Production College, Pong-Tamale into the University of Agriculture with focus on veterinary sciences. I called all these promises, “a vote to canvass stories from the electoral areas where the institutions are situated”.
The NDC as captured on page 40.6.9.7 b of the “The people’s Manifesto” has it to upgrade the famous OHAWU Agricultural College into a degree-awarding institution and would be named the University of Agriculture and Agribusiness if it wins the 2020 general elections. “The purpose of the upgrade and the establishment of the university are mainly to ensure that a lot of value is added to agriculture produce in the country”, said NDC”.
On the other, the Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Mohamadu Bawumia from the NPP government said to the chief and his subjects of Savelugu where the Animal Health and Production is situated that the college would be upgraded into a fully-fledged university when the NPP is given the second term at the office. As quoted from the VEEP’s speech delivered and sighted at graphic.com.gh, he said that the area where the college is located in an agrarian community and there is the need to upgrade the college to serve the inhabitants well… hmmm.
In a welcoming address to the President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo during his visit to the Afife Traditional Council in Afife in the Volta Region, the paramount chief, Torgbui Adrakpannya VI reiterated the call and the need to upgrade the Ohawu Agriculture College within the traditional council into a fully-fledged university of agriculture.
“Upgrading the college into university would enhance the training of students to provide the needed human resource based in the agriculture sector, increase production, value addition to the farm produce, and sustain the interest of the youth in agriculture”, Torgbui Adrakpanya VI echoed.
All parties have good intentions for the agriculture sector but as a young agriculturist, the question I have been asking myself silently is that “what the various agriculture colleges in Ghana need to deliver its core mandate?”, my position is NO and I believe graduates of the various colleges would second my opinion. The agriculture colleges in the country have been neglected to the core and this has affected its mandate to deliver although it continues to trained staff to man the agriculture extension unit of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The colleges are swimming in the pool of lack of infrastructure and other basic learning and training essentials. This is making the agriculture college system unattractive to recent second cycle school leavers which cause a sink to the good history of the institutions.
I would like to highlight some of the key challenges facing the various agriculture colleges and suggestions of remedies to salvage the sinking name of agriculture colleges in Ghana. • Inadequate lecture: The agriculture colleges’ curriculum is a blend of field and classroom learning sessions but most of the colleges have inadequate classrooms to host learning sessions. In a situation where there are classrooms, the number of students is always above the capacity of the rooms. This is affecting the teaching and learning process at the colleges. Some lecture halls are without fans and proper lighting systems to aid learning. For instance, a lecture hall of Ohawu Agriculture College that was built for a thirty (30) students sitting capacity now accommodating over fifty (50) students, and this is a great hindrance to the training of this frontline staff at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. It is important to construct more lecture halls to accommodate students for classroom sessions in the colleges. • Lack of transportation facility: transportation systems in the various colleges are very poor and nothing good can be documented out of it. Agriculture studies are a blend of field and classroom learning and due to lack of transport, the means to commute from the campuses for fieldwork continue to impede the practical knowledge that students could have. To visit the field for practical knowledge sessions students have to pay and hire commercial buses to aid their studies on the field. Across the various colleges, all the buses on the campuses are grounded and not roadworthy to convey students off campuses. The provision of reliable transport systems can make a sound impact on the training life of trainees in the colleges. A big thanks to the Canadian government for donating buses to the various colleges to ease the difficulty in student transport. • Inadequate residential facilities: accommodation is a huge problem in various colleges. The existing dormitories in the colleges were built to accommodate less than fifty (50) students but the situation is not as it supposed to be as the dormitories accommodate over seventy (70) students creating congestion. It is always my prayer that no communicable disease breaks out on the campus as both students, teaching, and non-teaching staff could be affected. It is important to begin building projects to salvage the lack the accommodation situations in the colleges. • Lack of laboratories for practical lessons – agriculture is a science and learning science is facilitated by practical experiments but that is not the stories in the agriculture colleges. There are no laboratories for practical training and where there is a laboratory it is under-resourced to execute its duty. Everything in the colleges which are supposed to be practical is currently theoretical. This is affecting the inculcation of the deep understanding of the subject matter to the trainees. A college where chemistry, physics, soil science, and home science are learned with imaginations is the Agriculture College. Resource existing laboratories in the colleges and building of new ones where necessary is very important for the development of the students. • Lack of agriculture machinery: the various colleges are the avenues for the trainees to gain basic skills in the operations of farm machinery and implements such as tractors, power tillers, tricycles, and other simple farm machines, but none of the colleges can boost functional farm machines for the training of students. All machines on the campuses are grounded and in a situation where machine services are needed private service providers have to be engaged of which is a dent in the college mission. A set of essential implements should be supplied to the colleges to aid in their practical training acquisition. This can help reduce the discouraging “manpi” – man labour use on the campuses. • Lack of basic needs: basic needs like potable water and regular source of energy continue to be a problem riding on the success of the agriculture college training. Ohawu Agriculture College in particular lacks access to potable water for domestic use by the students. The only source of water is from the Vume Dam which is not well treated for human consumption. On energy, in a situation where the national power grid goes off the whole college would be in total darkness since there is no alternative power source. There is an inadequate human resource to aid the training of students in the various colleges. • Lack of infirmary: none of the agriculture colleges has a sickbay that seeks the welfare of the populated trainees when an ill-health condition occurs. The whole community access healthcare needs from the neighbouring towns which affect better health delivering especially in the colleges in remote locations like Ohawu. Mini sick bays can be situated in the various campuses to enhance better healthcare for the college communities.
In an attempt to upgrade the Ohawu Agriculture College, as a product from the institution, I suggest that the various challenges hindering the conduct of skill training should be discussed and addressed to enhance favourable conditions for teaching and learning. The college is situated in close proximity to the defunct Crop and Soil Research Institute under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the location of the Vume Dam which all provides an environment and potentials to make the college superior in the areas of field crop production, soil research activities, and irrigation facilities for economic gains to the college.
Ohawu Agricultural College needs resources to its full capacity in all areas that will make learning and training attractive to the second cycle school leavers and to live its core value and mandate.
I am of the view that the various colleges should not be upgraded to full-fledged universities from a political point of view but should be adequately resourced to deliver the mandate of training skillful frontline staff for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and agriculture sector of Ghana.
There are much-unexploited potentials of the colleges and as a nation, we must avoid the cost of going to secure a loan to upgrade an institution that already has the ability to develop when well resourced.
My humble plea!
Long Live OAC
Long Live Ohawu Community
Long Live Vetco
Long Live Agric Colleges in Ghana.
Long Live Agriculture
Long Live Ghana
Written by: Abass Iddrisu
Initiator: Greeners Foundation Ghana||Nawun-Biya Agribusiness Management Consult.
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has called for a review of the selection process for the National Best Farmer Award to make provision for smallholder farmers, fisherfolk, youth, and women.
That, the Association said would reflect the diverse efforts of all farmers and the nation’s quest to build a just and inclusive society.
A statement issued in Accra by the Association commended the national awards committee for its work and urged it to expand the processes.
The 2020 National Farmers Day celebration is on the theme: “Agribusiness Development under COVID-19 – Opportunities and Challenges.”
It said the Association believes that the process could be improved to ensure that it reflected the current needs and challenges of the sector.
“This will strengthen not only the raison d’etre of the awards but will also ensure it becomes an effective tool for driving national cohesion and inclusivity for the sector,” it added.
The statement said PFAG and Ghana Federation of Forest and Farm Producers (GhaFFaP) congratulated all smallholder farmers in Ghana, especially women who were most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It said it was imperative to recognise that the stakeholder group continued to be the essential engine propelling the supply of raw materials for industry while ensuring the availability of food commodities for the domestic and international markets.
“Our assessment of awardees over the last two decades found farmers with large farm sizes as well as those with the capacity to invest in diversified agricultural commodities on a large scale emerging as overall award winners,” the statement noted.
According to the statement, a closer examination suggested that the majority of women, youth, smallholder farmers, and fisherfolk were targeted for district-level awards for specific commodities, which were associated with low returns and income.
“[No] woman winning the award over a 20-year period is incredibly worrying and not reflective of the immense contribution of women in the development of agriculture and family food security in Ghana,” it added.
The statement said reviewing the award criteria, would allow for equal competition among all farmers, including women and fisherfolk and boost the morale of marginalised groups, and improved productivity in the sector, particularly as some smallholder farmers posted a high level of productive efficiencies per productive factors.
It noted that historically, medium and smallholder farmers and fisherfolk constituted about 83 percent of the 11.3 million farmers in Ghana; but they had never won the overall national best farmer award.
The statement said that large-scale farmers with a minimum farm size of not less than 100 acres, who constituted about 17 percent of farmers were the recipients of all the overall national best awards and must be relooked.
It said the neglect of smallholder farmers and women in the agenda-setting of the National Farmers’ Day celebration and the national best farmers’ selection process undermined their role as key stakeholders contributing to agricultural development in the country.
The statement said the use of the scale of production as a key metric in selecting the overall best farmer, “suffers the same curse as economic productivity as used in economic parlance, which has since evolved to be more inclusive, accounting for important socio-cultural dynamics.”
“These dimensions include factors undergirding access to land for women, environmental awareness, innovation, contribution to poverty reduction and crucially reducing the inequality gap.
“It is, therefore, important that the metrics for selecting the overall best farmer reflected all the dimensions of productivity and socio-cultural narratives while making room for exploring issues such as good agronomic practices and environmental awareness-two areas, which were cardinal to sustainable food production,” the statement said.
The Ghana Exports Promotion Authority (GEPA), through its flagship project the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS), has outlined plans to boost cashew exports by as much as 320 percent from its current earnings to the country.
Currently, the crop is the second-largest contributor to non-traditional exports with earnings of US$237.8million in 2019. But through the NEDS project, GEPA seeks to increase the amount to more than US$1billion by 2029.
Some of the strategic interventions that GEPA plans to implement in the cashew industry to boost production and increase revenue include developing and supplying high-yielding disease-resistant grafted planting materials; establishing scion banks in major cashew growing areas, and liaising with private nursery operators to produce grafted planting materials.
Other strategies contained in the NEDS for the industry are: undertaking mass spraying of cashew farms to control pests and diseases; capacity building and training programmes on cashew farm best practices; and instituting land reforms that reduce bureaucracy and streamline access to land.
The cashew industry has over the years faced many challenges that have affected the growth of the sector. Some of the challenges include low production of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN); poor post-harvest handling practices; high cost of transport and energy; and the high cost of plant protection which makes farms prone to diseases and pests.
Other challenges include a bureaucratic land tenure system that has been a limiting factor to plantation development; inadequate access to finance; a small domestic market; and the struggle for local processors to mechanize and expand.
The Association of Cashew Processors Ghana (ACPG) has constantly called on the government to quicken the pace of setting up the Tree Crop Development Authority to deal with the many challenges within the cashew industry. According to the association, challenges such as an unfair Raw Cashew Nut (RCN) market, poor storage, lack of appropriate finance, and improper relationships among some stakeholders within the industry can be dealt with by the Authority.
Data from the association show that there are more than 12 large and small-scale processing companies in the country, with over 27,000mt installed processing capacity. With the coming on board of Brazil’s largest processor, Usibras, with its 35,000mt plant, the total processing capacity is now more than 60,000mt.
Data from GEPA also indicate that Ghana exports an average of 150,000mt of RCN annually. The NEDS envisions that by 2029 the country will reach annual local cashew harvests of at least 500,000 metric tonnes – enough to satisfy the raw material needs of local processors. Cashew processing is a source of employment to thousands of farmers, with over 65 percent being women; and about 200 jobs are generated per 1,000 tonnes of cashew.
GEPA is set to invest over US$600million during the next ten years, in a bid to diversify the economy through Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs).
The NEDS has developed around three main strategic pillars – which seek to expand and diversify the supply base for value-added industrial export products and services; improve the business, regulatory environment for export; and build and expand the required human capital for industrial export development and marketing.
Commercial banks are ready to pump more funds into the agriculture sector if additional measures are introduced to de-risk the sector, the Head of Agribusiness at Absa Bank, William Nettey, said.
According to him, the nature of banking makes every institution hesitant to invest funds in a venture that seems to be of high risk; most times because of inadequate information which impedes proper planning, projection, and the requisite cover needed to promote disbursement of funds.
“We are getting more interested in the sector because some of the risk areas are being mitigated. One of the challenges was the lack of information, but now we are seeing a lot more research on the sector being published, and we recently had the Ghana Census of Agriculture published. Gradually, agriculture is being supported to get quality data. Information is what drives what all the financial institutions do.”
“The support being provided by the Ghana Exim Bank, Ghana Incentive-Based Risk Sharing Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) and Rural Development Fund to make sure that we can get some cover for the loans we give out is really helping,” he said exclusively to the B&FT ahead of the Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) to be held at Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel on November 9-10.
Mr. Nettey explained that the number of private and public risk-mitigation measures which have been introduced has encouraged commercial banks to lend more to the sector in the past few years; thus showing optimism that the sector, which is pegged to hold the highest economic growth potential of the country, will see a lot more support from commercial banks if more measures are introduced.
“With these, we are able to work with some insurance companies to ensure that we cover our risks. The information helps us to partner with some financial institution so they buy some of the risks we are taking on, and also help to reduce interest rates for the farmer or agribusiness person coming for the facility. The use of technology has also helped to cut down the risk as well, and buildings being put up to prevent post-harvest losses are also helping,” Mr. Nettey said.
Agric funding data. According to the Statistical Bulletin (November 2019) report, the sectoral distribution of outstanding credit by banks shows that the agriculture and fishing sector received increased financial support – especially toward last quarter of the year. Credit advances to the sector increased to GH¢2.5billion at the end of November 2019.
This is quite significant – because as of October 2018 through to August 2019, credit advanced to the agriculture and fishing sector never went above GH¢1.7billion. The sector only began to see increased financial support from September 2019, when more than GH¢1.8billion credit was advanced by banks and further increased to GH¢2.3billion in the following month.
The development allows a sigh of relief for players in the sector, especially farmers and agri-businesses— knowing that banks are now easing their credit stance and are ready to provide them with needed financial assistance; an opportunity they have always been waiting for. It is projected that these figures will be higher in 2020.
GEF 2020. The Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) is a gathering of Ghanaian business leaders to chart the path to economic prosperity. It is scheduled to take place on November 9 and 10, 2020 at the Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City, Accra. The event is on the theme ‘Resetting the economy beyond COVID-19; Building economic resilience and self-sufficiency’.
It is designed to bring together over 500 local and international business leaders to dialogue and chart a clear path for Ghanaian businesses to hone the Ghanaian economy.
This year’s discussions will focus on several areas including energy, agriculture, entrepreneurship and innovation, banking and finance, and other areas crucial to the development of Ghana’s economy.
