The government is to invest $3 billion in eight agricultural industries over the next four years as part of efforts to reduce food imports, expand domestic production and create jobs.

The investment forms part of the $10 billion New Economy Programme, which is expected to run from 2027 to 2030.

Presenting the 2027 Budget Statement to Parliament on Thursday, November 12, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson said the selected industries were rice, sugar, poultry, maize-soya-feed, aquaculture, oil palm, vegetables and cocoa value addition.

He said agriculture remained a major contributor to the economy, accounting for about 20 per cent of economic output, nearly 40 per cent of employment and almost 25 per cent of export earnings.

“Ghana spends billions of dollars each year importing food and agricultural products that we can produce competitively here at home,” he said.

Dr Forson said the continued reliance on food imports was costing the country opportunities to expand local production and create jobs.

“Every avoidable import is more than a customs entry into our country. It is a farm that was not financed, a factory that remained idle, a transport contract that was never signed, and a job that was created elsewhere,” he said.

He said the government’s agricultural investment would focus on using Ghana’s land, water and private-sector capacity to improve food security, increase rural incomes and provide raw materials for local industries.

Under the programme, each of the eight industries will have a commercial plan, financing structure, production target, processing capacity, market rules and delivery units.

Dr Forson said the government would also establish a farm-to-market system linking farmers to storage, processing, packaging, transportation, institutional buyers, retailers and export markets.

“The farm must no longer stand alone at one end of the value chain while the market waits at the other,” he said.

He added: “Production without storage creates losses. Processing without reliable supply creates idle factories. Credit without market leaves farmers in debt. We will fix this value chain.”

The programme is expected to support access to improved seeds and breeds, irrigation, mechanisation, extension services, anchor farms and organised outgrower schemes.

The government says the investment is intended to strengthen domestic production and processing while reducing the country’s exposure to imported food and external price shocks.

Government earmarks $3bn for eight agricultural industries under New Economy Programme

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