The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has stated that the country has the natural resources and capacity to feed itself with the right investments and policy direction.

He has consequently affirmed the government’s commitment, backed by the World Bank, to transform the country’s agriculture sector under the West Africa Food Security Resilience Programme (FSRP) to achieve food sufficiency, reduce imports and create jobs.

Speaking during a working visit to the Kpong Irrigation Scheme at Asutsuare in the Greater Accra Region last Friday, the Finance Minister revealed that the government in collaboration with the World Bank was finalising an ambitious agriculture compact known as AgriConnect to address long-standing challenges in food production and agribusiness in the country.

The compact, Dr Forson said, would target both economic crops and key staples that were dominant in Ghanaian food consumption patterns.

"The government of Ghana, working with the World Bank, has developed and is about to complete a compact mission, AgriConnect.

It's a compact that seeks to target certain crops, both economic crops and some staples that we consume. And so we are targeting 100,000 hectares of palm plantation.

"We are also targeting rehabilitating some of our cocoa farms in the cocoa industry.”

“We are also targeting rice for Ghana to be self-sufficient in rice to the extent that we will stop the importation of rice into our country," he said.

The Minister of Finance stated that the AgriConnect compact would be submitted to Parliament soon for approval, after which implementation would begin.

Dr Forson expressed the confidence that once the compact was implemented, the country could achieve rice self-sufficiency within the medium term.

Event

The Finance Minister’s visit underscored a renewed and coordinated push by the government and the World Bank to overcome food insecurity and position agriculture as a driver of economic growth and national resilience.

The minister, accompanied by senior officials of the World Bank and the FSRP, toured various production sites to acquaint himself with ongoing activities after which he expressed his satisfaction with what he observed on the ground.

The entourage included the World Bank Country Director, Robert Taliercio; the Practice Manager for West and Central Africa, Abel Lufafa; the Operations Manager for FSRP, Philip Daniel Laryea, and the President of the Water Users Association, Charles Tetteh Hombey.

The entourage interacted with staff and farmers, with discussions focusing on the scope of rehabilitation of the Kpong Irrigation Scheme, the economic prospects expected after rehabilitation, and key challenges affecting farmers.

The minister’s first port of call was the irrigation plant and production facilities of Golden Exotic Limited at Kasunya, a leading producer and exporter of bananas.

He later visited the Kpong Irrigation Scheme, where he engaged rice farmers and operators at milling centres.

Farmers' concerns

Addressing farmers’ concerns about the lack of market, Dr Forson assured them that the School Feeding Programme had been directed to procure only made-in-Ghana food products, while government agencies would also buy local produce.

He added that the National Buffer Stock Company (NABCO) had been retooled and would receive budgetary allocations to purchase produce from local farmers, while new storage silos would be put in place to preserve food for future consumption.

“These measures will guarantee markets for farmers, encourage higher production, and reduce post-harvest losses,” the Finance Minister said.

"We can't always be importing food into our country. From what I've seen, I'm encouraged that with a little push, we can be self-sufficient and the food insecurity issues that we are facing will be a thing of the past if we put it in right investments," Dr Forson added.

Full support

The World Bank Country Director reaffirmed the multilateral development partner’s full support for Ghana’s agricultural transformation agenda.

Mr Taliercio said agriculture contributed about 20 per cent to Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provided over one-third of national employment, making it a critical sector for inclusive growth.

The World Bank Country Director, however, pointed to key constraints holding the sector back, particularly infrastructural deficit, including irrigation systems, farm-to-market roads and rural transport networks.

Mr Taliercio said the World Bank was working with government on programmes such as FSRP to expand irrigation, improve rural roads, support export-oriented crops and boost productivity.

"So, the government and the World Bank are currently discussing programme in agriculture to support economic crops, continue to support irrigation schemes and approaches such as the one in this FSRP and also for rural roads to ensure that food can be moved where it needs to be moved and crops that are going for export can be brought out efficiently for export,” he stated.

“We are talking about a $1 billion to try to help Ghana to advance quickly because this is urgent over the next couple of years on this very important agenda,” Mr Taliercio added.

He added that the there was room for reform in some of the policies that affect investors and the private sector to improve the investment climate and the business environment.

Mr Taliercio stressed the reform was critical to mobilise more private capital to support productivity in the food sector.