Ghana is stepping up efforts to unlock financing for agriculture with the inauguration of three Technical Committees to design new frameworks for cocoa, oil palm, and other strategic economic crops.
The move, spearheaded by the Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, is aimed at addressing long-standing funding gaps that undermine productivity and growth in the sector.
The first to be inaugurated was the Technical Committee on Agriculture Financing, which has been given three weeks to develop a comprehensive policy framework for financing key crops. Its membership includes representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Ghana, EXIM Bank, GIRSAL, and the Development Bank of Ghana.
Two other committees — the Oil Palm Project Committee and the Cocoa Project Committee — were also inaugurated, drawing members from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Cocoa Board, the Tree Crops Development Authority, Forestry Commission, and the Environmental Protection Authority.
According to Dr. Forson, the committees are expected to deliver practical strategies that improve access to financing, enhance productivity, and ensure sustainability across the agriculture value chain.
He stressed that strengthening support for cash crops is critical to Ghana’s broader economic transformation agenda.
Members of the Agriculture Financing Committee include David Collison, Samuel Arkhurst, Cynthia Arthur, Frederick Amissah, and Edna Baffoe-Bonnie from the Ministry of Finance; Emelia Awuviri and Desmond Agbogah from the Bank of Ghana; Samuel Yeboah from GIRSAL; Kojo Aboagye-Yeboah from EXIM Bank; Prof. Eric Osei-Assibey from the Development Bank of Ghana; with Deborah Ashun and Edna Baffoe-Bonnie serving as secretaries.
