AGRICOLTURE AND AGROBUSINESS
Info
Agriculture remains a key sector in Ghana’s economy and employs almost 45% of the population.
The objective for the future is to increase domestic production and reduce dependence on imports, while strengthening key exports. In 2017, the administration of President Nana Akufo-Addo continued to focus on reviving the agricultural sector. Through new agricultural foundations, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and other stakeholders are working to improve the production and exports of agricultural sectors in the coming years.
Cereals
In contrast to the general slowdown of the sector in recent years, the cereal production segment has registered a growth (+ 17% for rice, + 6% for maize). This trend continued throughout 2017, prompting the Government to set ambitious targets for increasing production in the medium term of both maize (+30%) and rice (+49%).
The Government has also launched a programme to improve food production and job creation in sectors such as processing and packaging, which could provide high incomes for farmers.
Cocoa and coffee
Ghana is the world’s second largest producer of cocoa, with annual output ranging from 750,000 to 1 million tonnes. Thanks to the founding of the Ghana Cocoa Board in 1947, the country managed to regulate the sector and become not only the second world producer of cocoa, but also to raise the quality of the product up to the highest standards required by the market. In addition, the Ghanaian government is working closely with the Ivorian one (the world’s leading producer) to follow a unified trade line that allows the two world leaders of cocoa to have a single voice at international level. Further strategies will be implemented to protect and improve the conditions of farmers. However, despite the large investments and the direction taken, there is a lack of processing plants in the country, which would allow to export a product with higher added value.
Robust coffee also lacks on-site processing facilities.
Processing industry
There are many investment opportunities in the field of processing agricultural products, such as cereals (maize, rice, millet) starchy crops (yam, cassava, sweet potato), carrots, cabbage, eggplant, tomatoes, fruit (pineapple, papaya, banana, mango), industrial crops (rubber, sugar cane, cotton, palm oil, coconut) farming (cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep) and fishing (tuna, tilapia, catfish).
There are also silkworm farms for the production of raw silk.
Cashew
Another important agricultural sector is cashew production. Some 75,000 farms in the country are engaged in its cultivation. Cashew nuts are currently Ghana’s main non-traditional agricultural export, generating around USD 197 million in 2016.
The GEPA expressed optimism about a significant increase in earnings derived from exports of cashew nuts, allocating more than $250 million to international trade of this product in 2018.
Given the importance of the sector, the President of Ghana has decided to launch a government development plan for cashew
Tropical fruit, preserves and juices
As millions of people around the world search for healthier, organic food, the demand for fruit is growing both locally and globally. Africa remains one of the world’s largest producers of fruit, such as citrus fruits, pineapples, bananas and many others. Although the climate and soil of Africa are perfectly suited to the production of pineapple, very few countries on the continent are large producers of this variety.
Ghana is one of the largest producers and exporters of pineapples in Africa, with exports mainly to Europe, generating earnings of more than 50 million dollars per year.
An interesting area of investment concerns the processing plants for the production of preserves, juices and dried fruits, which are lacking in the country.
Technology and services
The strong demand for technology and services in the agricultural sector offers considerable investment opportunities and concerns mainly irrigation and the rental of heavy equipment (e.g. tractors, ploughs, herdsmen and combine harvesters etc.).
There are also opportunities to invest in storage, transport and packaging.