Ghana is intensifying efforts to cut its palm oil import bill by about $200 million annually, as it courts Chinese investors to support an ambitious agricultural transformation drive.
Ghana is accelerating its agricultural transformation, inviting Chinese investors to support joint ventures across the sector.
The Integrated Oil Palm Development Programme aims to develop 100,000 hectares and create 250,000 jobs.
Government initiatives include seed distribution, irrigation expansion, and support for mechanisation.
With access to the 400 million-strong ECOWAS market, Ghana is positioning itself as a regional hub for agriculture and industry.
Speaking at the Chinese Lunar New Year Gala 2026 in Accra, Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku said farming has become central to President John Dramani Mahama’s economic reset agenda.
As part of the push, the government is distributing 31,000 metric tonnes of rice seed, 4,388 metric tonnes of maize seed, 2,791 metric tonnes of soybean seed, and 272,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser this year.
Authorities are also expanding irrigation infrastructure and constructing dams in northern regions to reduce reliance on rain-fed farming.
Ghana’s Minister of Agriculture Eric Opoku unveils plans to partner with Chinese investors, aiming to cut $200 million in palm oil imports and drive West Africa’s agro-industrial growth. [Stock Photo via Getty Images]
“We are not seeking aid. We are building joint ventures,” he said, urging investors to shift “from trade to production”.
At the centre of the strategy is the Integrated Oil Palm Development Programme, scheduled for 2026 to 2032. The initiative aims to develop 100,000 hectares of plantations, create 250,000 jobs, and sharply reduce palm oil imports.
With structured land banks already on offer, Ghana is positioning itself as a regional hub for agriculture and manufacturing, leveraging access to the more than 400 million-strong ECOWAS market to attract long-term investment.
Ashanti Regional Director of Agriculture, Dr David Anambam, says the introduction of mechanisation and modern methods is critical to encouraging youth interest in agriculture.
He says this helps reduce the physical burden of farming and makes the sector more appealing to the youth.
He disclosed that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is strengthening collaborations with allied agencies and partners to help rope in more rural folks, especially women and youth, in the agricultural value chain and create more sustainable job opportunities through mechanisation.
Officials are already leveraging interventions by AGRA Ghana and its partners, Agri-Invest Limited and the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA), who are currently implementing the Strengthening Access to Mechanisation for Agri-Businesses for Enhanced Youth Employment Opportunities project at Jeduako in the Sekeyere Central District of the Ashanti Region.
The project, which is a component of the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) program, is an agricultural mechanisation initiative that is creating new employment pathways for young people while improving farm productivity in the farming community of Jeduako.
Youth in the Ashanti, Upper West, Northern, Bono East and North East Regions are also benefiting from the project.
The project, being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, also aims to expand access to affordable mechanisation services and financing for youth-led agribusinesses.
During a visit to the Jeduako community, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Agri-Invest Limited, who doubles as the project coordinator, Kofi Kyeremanteng Nyanteng, explained that the intervention has reached 510 beneficiaries in the community, including 350 young people, 70 per cent of whom are women.
He further explained that the initiative connects youth to mechanisation service opportunities, trains them to use simple income-generating tools, and links them to affordable financing options.
As part of the rollout, the project has deployed four push planters, creating jobs for nearly 20 young people, and five handheld shellers to support service provision.
Dr Anambam indicated that the AGRA Ghana initiative directly aligns with the government’s Feed Ghana Programme, which places strong emphasis on youth participation as a pathway to increasing national food production and strengthening livelihoods.
He commended AGRA Ghana and its partners, indicating that the project’s overall goal is to boost efficiency, raise farm incomes, and contribute to national agricultural transformation.
At a demonstration farm, one of the beneficiaries, Abena Patricia Manu, who handles the push planters, was excited about how she can use the machine to broadcast rice easily without employing more labour.
“The machine has come to lessen the burden on us, and we are able to increase productivity and reduce costs. I am able to broadcast the rice on an acre of land in a day, which used not to be so,” she revealed.
In the Jeduako community, other beneficiaries have lauded AGRA Ghana’s intervention in providing handheld maize shellers.
One of them, Rose Amponsah, said, “Farmers were losing out before the intervention, but now we are able to shell our maize with ease and even do the same for other farmers for monetary gains.”
Satch Avudzi, Program Officer at AGRA, expressed confidence that training youth on mechanisation will attract more youth to agriculture.
Project Coordinator at the Kumasi Institute for Tropical Agriculture (KITA), Ellison Owusu Fordjour, said the project is building beneficiaries’ capacities.
It seeks to empower over 3,000 people, including women and youth. To ensure long-term impact, Mr Fordjour indicated that the project is deploying Community Agribusiness Advisors to facilitate access to spare parts, connect beneficiaries with suppliers and manufacturers, and provide ongoing technical support.
Before the project, farmers relied heavily on manual planting, broadcasting, and labour-intensive shelling. In some cases, several labourers had to be hired and fed during planting seasons, increasing production costs.
Shelling delays were also common because only one tractor served the community, often arriving late and exposing harvests to risks such as spoilage or bushfires. With handheld shellers and other portable tools, farmers can now process produce promptly and more efficiently.
Ghana Country Director of AGRA, Dr Betty Annan, expressed excitement that the project is creating jobs for young people and giving them opportunities to become agricultural entrepreneurs.
“I was impressed. Yes, some of the equipment was given to them for free as starter packs. But as they teach them financial management, that will give them the opportunity to be able to establish their own businesses as time goes on,” she said.
The producers of half the world’s cocoa – Ivory Coast and Ghana – have struggled to sell beans and pay farmers this year due to ample global harvests, lower cocoa prices and falling demand from chocolate makers for the ingredient.
Why did the two countries fare worse than rival producers and what are they doing to address the problem?
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Cocoa is not freely traded in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Rather, the two countries’ cocoa regulators – appointed by the government – sell some 80% of their beans to global traders a year in advance and, on the basis of those sales, set a fixed price for farmers at the season start in October.
Farmers then sell their beans to local collectors at this price, and the collectors in turn sell them on to licensed buyers. After receiving the cocoa, licensed buyers either sell directly to global traders or to local traders who sell on to global traders.
The fixed farmer price set in October usually covers the October to March main crop as the countries’ cocoa regulators tend to adjust the farmer price for the April to September mid-crop – considered to be of lower quality.
Last October, Ivory Coast set its main crop price at about $5,000 a metric ton while Ghana set it at nearly $5,300 per metric ton.
World cocoa price futures have plunged to around $3,100 per ton, however, having lost half their value this year alone.
For global cocoa traders, the price plunge had the immediate impact of landing them with steep losses if they purchased Ivorian and Ghanaian beans and sold them at futures market rates. As a result, they mostly stopped buying them.
Ghanaian farmers said last month they had not been paid for their beans since November, while industry sources told Reuters the situation was similar for Ivorian farmers. They noted that unsold cocoa stocks have piled up across Ivory Coast.
WHAT HAVE IVORY COAST, GHANA DONE SO FAR IN RESPONSE?
To try get cash to farmers, Ivory Coast’s government launched a programme late last month to buy 100,000 tons of unsold, main crop cocoa stocks from farmers at a cost of half a billion dollars.
In Ghana, the cocoa regulator on February 12 cut the fixed farmer price, opens new tab by nearly a third to around $3,580 per ton after it estimated the country had about 50,000 tons worth of unsold cocoa stocks.
Ivory Coast is also planning, from March 1, to lower its fixed farmer price by about a third in the hope of providing an incentive for sales to international traders, sources told Reuters.
The government said earlier this week it will announce a new farmer price by the end of February, a month earlier than usual.
WHY DID WORLD COCOA PRICES PLUNGE?
After nearly tripling to record levels in 2024, world cocoa prices have since lost about three quarters of their value.
The plunge came about in part because demand fell as high prices led chocolate-makers to reduce bar sizes, increase non-cocoa additives, such as wafers or nuts, and substitute products like cocoa butter with alternative fats.
At the same time, favourable weather has led to bigger and healthier crops, leaving the global market set to record a surplus of around 300,000-400,000 tons this season, according to global traders.
Much of that surplus is in Ivory Coast and Ghana which, unlike global traders or processors, do not have the financial means or the capacity to store beans in warehouses.
There is a roughly year-long lag between the price of cocoa on futures markets and any impact on chocolate sold to retail consumers.
HOW IMPORTANT IS COCOA TO IVORY COAST’S AND GHANA’S ECONOMIES?
Cocoa accounts for nearly 40% of Ivory Coast’s export revenue and nearly 15% of Ghana’s, making the crop one of the biggest sources of foreign exchange earnings for the two West African nations.
Unlike Ivory Coast, Ghana is also struggling to recover from its deepest economic crisis in a generation after it defaulted on and then restructured much of its $30 billion overseas debt.
The crisis has made it much harder and more costly for Ghana’s cocoa regulator to get financing for cocoa purchases.
Nearly 2 million Ghanaian and Ivorian cocoa farmers and their dependents, most of whom live below the poverty line, rely on the chocolate ingredient for their livelihoods.
The Chief Executive Officer of theTree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), Dr. Andy Osei Okrah, says the $500 million commitment by President John Dramani Mahama to expand oil palm cultivation marks a decisive step toward transforming Ghana’s tree crops sector into a key driver of economic growth.
The funding will support the development of 100,000 hectares of new oil palm plantations, a programme projected to create around 250,000 jobs while helping the country diversify its agricultural base and reduce long-standing dependence on cocoa exports.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday, Dr. Okrah described the investment as evidence of government’s seriousness about the sector, noting that discussions are already ongoing with development partners and international financiers to mobilise the required funds.
“That alone tells you the money is there,” he said.
“Oil palm will lead, but all the crops have strong commercial potential.”
Beyond oil palm, the broader strategy targets five additional crops —cashew, coconut, rubber, mango and shea— which the Authority believes can collectively reposition Ghana within the global agricultural value chain.
TCDA projections suggest that each of the six crops could generate about $2 billion annually, lifting potential export earnings to as much as $12 billion per year.
Currently, the entire tree crops segment brings in roughly $750 million, a small fraction of the $230 billion global market, underscoring significant growth opportunities.
Dr. Okrah said investor appetite is already strengthening, with recent engagements drawing private sector commitments involving land acquisition and capital running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
He added that accountability will be central to implementation, with government-backed initiatives such as seedling distribution, grants and farmer support programmes subject to public tracking.
The International Monetary Fund has backed government’s cocoa sector stabilisation measures, urging swift implementation of structural reforms at Ghana Cocoa Board as authorities cut producer prices and overhaul the sector’s financing framework.
Responding to a query from Business and Financial Times, an IMF spokesperson said Ghana’s cocoa industry is facing pressure from weaker global prices, declining domestic output and liquidity constraints at COCOBOD.
The Fund described the sector as macro-critical, noting it accounts for close to 10 percent of export revenue and supports about 800,000 farming households.
“The most urgent priority is decisive implementation of COCOBOD’s turnaround strategy, including ending quasi-fiscal activities, establishing lower-cost financing and adopting key reforms,” the spokesperson said, adding that recently announced stabilisation measures will be an important step forward if fully executed.
This endorsement comes as the Ministry of Finance announced a series of reforms following an emergency Cabinet meeting on February 11, 2026. Authorities reduced the producer price for the remainder of the 2025/26 crop season to GH¢41,392 per tonne, equivalent to GH¢2,587 per bag effective February 12.
The adjustment follows a sharp fall in world cocoa prices from an average of US$7,200 per tonne at start of the season to about US$4,100 per tonne. Under the revised arrangement, farmers will receive 90 percent of a gross Free-On-Board price benchmarked at US$4,200 per tonne to cushion the global downturn’s impact. Government said the measure is intended to inject liquidity into the sector and expedite payments to farmers.
This price revision underscores the volatility confronting COCOBOD’s pricing framework. At the start of 2025/26 season, the producer price had been set at GH¢51,660 per tonne based on 70 percent of a gross FOB price of US$7,200 and an exchange rate of 10.25 cedis to the US dollar. Subsequent exchange rate pressures and pricing moves by Côte d’Ivoire prompted an interim increase to GH¢58,000 per tonne before the global price correction reversed margins.
Beyond pricing, government is introducing a new financing model to replace the syndicated loan structure that has been in place for more than three decades. The Ministry of Finance said domestic cocoa bonds will be issued to raise a revolving fund for cocoa purchases, with repayment within each crop year.
The previous off-taker financing model, adopted after delays in syndication, left COCOBOD dependent on buyers’ willingness to pre-finance purchases. The reforms also include a plan to convert about GH¢5billion of legacy debt owed the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana into equity to restore positive equity on COCOBOD’s balance sheet. Additionally, cocoa roads liabilities have been reduced to GH¢4.35billion and will be transferred to the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
COCOBOD’s own turnaround strategy outlines measures to realign producer pricing to a gross FOB benchmark, cap industry costs, phase out quasi-fiscal expenditures and strengthen ministerial oversight.
The plan targets a reduction in industry costs from 56 percent of gross FOB to 10 percent over the medium-term and aims to eliminate budget deficits from the 2024/25 financial year.
The IMF said these reforms are consistent with vulnerabilities previously identified under Ghana’s Extended Credit Facility programme. While acknowledging government’s stabilisation steps, the Fund stressed that implementation will be critical to restoring financial viability and safeguarding export revenues.
With global prices still below earlier peaks and domestic output under pressure, the sector’s recovery will depend on cost containment, improved financing terms and credible governance reforms. Government has also directed forensic audits into COCOBOD’s recent operations as part of efforts to strengthen accountability.
The IMF’s support signals continued scrutiny of the cocoa sector’s role in the country’s macroeconomic adjustment, as authorities seek to stabilise a key export earner amid volatile commodity markets.
Brazil has temporarily suspended cocoa imports from Ivory Coast due to phytosanitary risks, the country’s official gazette showed on Tuesday.
Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry cited risks related to “the high influx of beans from neighbouring countries into Ivory Coast,” the world’s largest cocoa producer.
According to the ministry, such inflows could allow cocoa from other countries that are not authorized to ship the commodity to Brazil to be mixed with Ivorian products before export.
The suspension will remain in place until Ivory Coast formally responds to the situation and provides guarantees that its shipments do not pose a risk of containing cocoa produced in neighbouring countries, it added.
Ivory Coast accounted for roughly 37percent of the 112,850 metric tons of cocoa and its by-products imported by Brazil in 2025.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has launched an investigation into a suspected corruption scheme involving the illegal diversion of 50 20-foot containers of palm oil, valued at GHS25.8 million, into the local market.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, the OSP said the consignment, originally declared as transit cargo destined for Burkina Faso, was unlawfully rerouted into Ghana’s domestic market without payment of applicable duties and taxes, resulting in an estimated tax loss of GHS10.5 million.
On February 18, 2026, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), through its Customs Division, intercepted 18 articulated trucks carrying assorted goods — including cooking oil, spaghetti, and tomato paste — declared for transit to Niger, at the Akanu and Aflao border posts.
The interception uncovered tax evasion amounting to GH¢85.3 million, with sources revealing the cargo was moving without the mandatory Customs Human Escorts required under Ghana’s transit regime.
The scale of the diversion prompted a swift response from the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, who ordered an immediate ban on the land transit of cooking oil, directing that all such consignments must enter and exit the country exclusively through Ghana’s seaports.
“The Office has identified the involvement of some Customs officers, National Security operatives, and clearing agents in a corrupt scheme,” the OSP stated, signalling that the scandal cuts across multiple state institutions.
The investigation was triggered by an intelligence-led operation conducted in November 2025, suggesting that authorities had been monitoring the scheme for some months before going public with the probe.
The OSP, established under the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), is mandated to independently investigate and prosecute corruption-related offences, particularly those involving public officials.
The Special Prosecutor’s office did not name any specific individuals in Tuesday’s statement but assured the public that the process is ongoing.
“As the process continues, the Office remains committed to protecting the public purse and upholding integrity,” it said.
Government has announced a sweeping ban on the land transit of cooking oil through Ghana’s borders, directing that all such consignments must henceforth be routed exclusively through the country’s seaports.
The directive, issued by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, follows the recent interception of eighteen articulated trucks declared for transit to Niger but suspected to be part of a broader transit diversion scheme.
Under the new measure, cooking oil consignments entering Ghana for onward transit to landlocked countries will no longer be permitted to move through land border collection points.
Instead, they must be processed exclusively through Ghana’s seaports, where stricter valuation systems, electronic tracking, scanning infrastructure, and layered customs controls are operational.
Authorities say the decision is aimed at closing loopholes within the transit regime that have exposed the state to significant revenue losses.
Post-interception examinations in the recent case uncovered material discrepancies in declared unit values, tariff classifications, and weights, which revised the suspended revenue exposure from approximately GH¢2.6 million to over GH¢85 million.
In addition to the prohibition on land transit of cooking oil, the Minister has directed the Ghana Revenue Authority to implement enhanced monitoring and strict compliance enforcement for all transactions originating from land collection points. This will include intensified cargo tracking, reinforced escort protocols, and tighter supervisory oversight.
The Minister has also ordered the prompt commencement of disciplinary proceedings against any Customs officers found culpable in similar breaches.
Criminal investigations are to extend to importers and clearing agents where evidence supports prosecution.
Officials say the measures are designed not only to protect state revenue but also to safeguard local edible oil producers from unfair competition arising from diverted transit goods.
The government has reaffirmed its resolve to apply the full rigour of the law, including confiscation and auction of impounded goods where applicable, and to ensure that Ghana’s customs regime is not exploited to undermine domestic revenue mobilisation and national development.
The new producer price of cocoa for the remainder of the 2025/26 cocoa season will take effect from Friday, February 13, 2026.
This follows an upward review of the producer price to GH¢41,392.00 per tonne.
A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday said the new price would apply to all cocoa purchased nationwide for the rest of the 2025/26 crop year.
It said under the revised pricing structure, the producer price to be paid at all buying centres was GH¢1,241.76 per load of 30 kilogrammes of Grade | and Il cocoa beans naked ex-scale.
The statement further explained that the approved price per bag of 64 kilogrammes gross was GH¢2,587.00.
It noted that a tonne of cocoa, comprising 16 bags, now attracted a total payment of GH¢41,392.00.
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has called for government’s Intervention to save the Ghanaian farmers to suture Ghana’s future. This call came through because of the recent tragic murder of Ghanaian tomato traders in Burkina Faso.
In a release issued by the PFAG, the association has shown a great concern stating that the immediate human tragedy is their foremost concern. The release reads:
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) is profoundly troubled and saddened by the recent tragic murder of Ghanaian tomato traders in Burkina Faso. While the immediate human tragedy is our foremost concern, this act exposes the extreme vulnerability of our foods system. Currently, a significant portion of the tomatoes consumed in Ghana are imported from Burkina Faso and this tragic event will disrupt supply chains which will undoubtedly trigger a sharp hike in tomato prices, placing a basic nutritional staple in a highly precarious state for millions of Ghanaian families.
This is not merely a supply chain issue; it is a national security and economic sovereignty issue. While the catalyst is unfortunate, it serves as a stark and urgent wake-up call for the nation to fundamentally reassess our agricultural trajectory. We must seize this moment to implement transformative measures that guarantee self-sufficiency, not just in tomatoes, but across the entire vegetable value chain.
The numbers paint a damning picture of missed opportunity. Ghana is currently the 43rd largest importer of tomatoes in the world, having spent over $22.3 million on tomato imports in 2024 alone, with more than 90% of these imports originating from Burkina Faso. Our national consumption demand hovers around 800,000 metric tonnes annually. Yet, our total domestic production languishes between 370,000 and 420,000 metric tonnes, leaving a deficit that imports must fill. This reliance persists despite Ghana possessing the climate, arable land, and human resource potential to not only be self-sufficient but to become a net exporter in the West African sub-region.
This chronic production shortfall is not an act of nature, but a failure of policy and prioritization. It is the result of several interconnected, systemic constraints: • Climate-Dependent Farming: Our over-reliance on seasonal, rain-fed agriculture, due to grossly inadequate irrigation facilities, leaves production vulnerable to erratic rainfall patterns and climate change. • The Productivity Gap: Average yields are stuck at a dismal 7.5 metric tonnes per hectare, a far cry from a potential of 20 metric tonnes per hectare. This is a direct consequence of farmers’ limited access to high-quality, market-demanded seeds, the exorbitant cost of fertilizers, and the widespread adoption of poor agronomic practices. • The Post-Harvest Catastrophe: The nation watches helplessly as 30-50% of the harvest is lost after cultivation. This post-harvest waste, resulting from poor storage, lack of processing facilities, and deplorable road networks, represents a crushing blow to farmers’ incomes, traders’ livelihoods, and national food security.
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana is deeply concerned that these persistent bottlenecks, if left unaddressed, will continue to cripple the efforts of our farmers as they will remain uncompetitive and trapped in a cycle of low productivity. This, in turn will fuel inflationary pressures, further bloat our national food import bill, and jeopardize the very foundation of our food security. The murder of our traders is a tragic exclamation point on a long-standing, unsustainable reality.
However, the PFAG believes that with decisive, well-funded, and properly sequenced interventions, Ghana can chart a new course. We are confident that we can drastically reduce our reliance on vegetable imports by 2030 and achieve complete self-sufficiency in tomato production by 2036. This is not just an aspiration; it is a necessity. The Association therefore urgently calls upon the Government of Ghana to treat this as a matter of national emergency and prioritize the following:
A Radical Shift in Irrigation Development: The government must provide a specific, time-bound roadmap and dedicated budget for the completion of the “Irrigation for Wealth Programme.” Furthermore, as a defining legacy project, the government must commence and complete the construction of the Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam within its tenure. To complement large-scale infrastructure, the government should immediately initiate a program for the construction of boreholes and facilitate access to subsidized solar-powered irrigation pumps for farmers across all major farming districts. This will enable all-year-round farming and insulate production from climate shocks.
Establish Strategic Agricultural Enclaves: The government should develop dedicated economic enclaves for the commercial cultivation of high-demand vegetables, including tomatoes and onions. These enclaves should be situated in selected agro-ecological zones with favourable climatic conditions and be equipped with essential infrastructure—water, power, and roads—to attract private sector investment and drive production.
Reduce cost-of-Production: The government must adequately resource our research institutions to develop and multiply high-quality, disease-resistant, and market-preferred seed varieties. Critically, the government must work as a matter of urgency to significantly reduce the cost of production. This requires a comprehensive review and engagement with companies in the pricing of fertilizers and other key inputs and services
Declare War on Post-Harvest Losses: A national strategy to tackle post-harvest losses must be instituted immediately. This multi-pronged approach should include: (a) a massive recruitment and deployment of extension agents to educate farmers on best harvesting and handling practices; (b) the rapid upgrading of feeder roads linking farming communities to major market centres; (c) the establishment of a network of storage and cold chain facilities at strategic locations; and (d) the urgent rehabilitation and establishment of tomato processing factories across major tomato-producing districts to absorb surpluses and stabilize market prices during glut seasons.
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana urges the government to view these interventions not as favours to farmers, but as critical investments in the nation’s future. This urgency is magnified by the growing despair and low morale among Ghanaian farmers in recent times. Grain (rice, maize and soya) and tuber (yam and cassava) farmers are currently counting their staggering losses from the recent market glut. Despite repeated government promises and assurances, they feel abandoned and helpless as they watch their investments go to waste. The appetite to cultivate for the upcoming planting season is very low, as produce from last planting season still remains on the field, in warehouses or have completely destroyed. Their plight is a national emergency in its own right.
We implore the government to immediately activate all available avenues—from direct purchases to strategic storage—to provide immediate relief to these farmers as their resilience has been stretched to the breaking point.
We urge that the country builds a resilient agricultural system that ensures no Ghanaian farmer or consumer is left at the mercy of such precarious circumstances.
Let’s save the Ghanaian farmer and secure Ghana’s future.
