The Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu, Atta Issah, has disclosed that Ghana is set to establish its first-ever fertiliser processing plant as part of efforts to reduce the high cost of agricultural production.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, February 11, the MP, who also serves on Parliament’s Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee and the Finance Committee, said the country’s heavy reliance on imported fertiliser continues to drive up input costs for farmers.

Atta Issah explained that the high cost of farm inputs contributes to situations where farmers produce large volumes but still make losses, because production costs outweigh the prices offered in the market.

He argued that reducing fertiliser costs through local processing will help address one of the major bottlenecks in Ghana’s agricultural value chain and improve profitability for farmers.

“In other jurisdictions, they have this concept where they know the cost of input per bag of maize. In Ghana, we still don’t have that data. I think the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is developing that.

“In fact, we are coming to establish the first-ever fertiliser processing plant in Ghana. It has never been done anywhere in the history of this country.

“Yet we spend millions of dollars importing fertilisers. That drives up the cost of production for farmers, and that is why there is a food glut, because if you look at the amount of money you use for farming, in reality, as against how much people want to buy in the market, you realise that you are making a loss,” he said.