Gov’t sets up committees to fix agriculture financing gaps
By Praisebell Rosemond Larbi
Ghana is taking decisive steps to bridge long-standing funding gaps in agriculture with the inauguration of three Technical Committees tasked with designing financing frameworks for cocoa, oil palm and other strategic economic crops.
The initiative, led by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, reflects the government’s renewed commitment to strengthening agricultural value chains and driving economic transformation.
The first of the three bodies, the Technical Committee on Agriculture Financing, was sworn in with a three-week mandate to develop a comprehensive policy framework to guide financing for key crops.
Membership of the committee spans critical financial and policy institutions, including the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Ghana, EXIM Bank, Ghana Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) and the Development Bank of Ghana.
Dr Forson noted that inadequate and fragmented financing has hampered Ghana’s agricultural productivity for decades.
“These committees have been carefully constituted to deliver practical strategies that will improve access to financing, enhance productivity and ensure sustainability across the agriculture value chain,” he stated.
Two additional committees were also inaugurated: the Oil Palm Project Committee and the Cocoa Project Committee.
Their work will draw on expertise from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the Tree Crops Development Authority, Forestry Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the Finance Minister, cocoa and oil palm remain critical anchors of Ghana’s agricultural economy, contributing significantly to export earnings and employment.
However, both crops face challenges ranging from limited financing and ageing farms to climate change threats and sustainability concerns. “Strengthening support for these cash crops is not optional.
It is central to Ghana’s broader economic transformation agenda,” Dr Forson stressed.
The Agriculture Financing Committee is chaired by David Collison and includes senior technocrats such as Samuel Arkhurst, Cynthia Arthur, Frederick Amissah and Edna Baffoe-Bonnie from the Ministry of Finance. Other members are Emelia Awuviri and Desmond Agbogah from the Bank of Ghana, Samuel Yeboah from GIRSAL, Kojo Aboagye-Yeboah from EXIM Bank and Prof Eric Osei-Assibey representing the Development Bank of Ghana. Deborah Ashun and Edna Baffoe-Bonnie will serve as secretaries to the committee.
The committees are expected to submit their initial recommendations in the coming weeks, setting the stage for the rollout of a new generation of agricultural financing policies designed to secure Ghana’s position as a leader in cash crop production in Africa.
