President Mahama Outlines Nationwide Irrigation, Mechanisation Drive Under Feed Ghana Programme
By Esther Korantemaa Offei
President John Dramani Mahama has announced an expansive rollout of agricultural interventions under the Feed Ghana Programme, positioning irrigation, mechanisation and institutional farming as central pillars of the country’s food security strategy.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address at Parliament House in Accra, the President said institutions from basic schools to tertiary levels have been registered and are actively participating in the initiative. He noted that the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Prison Service and the National Service Authority, alongside public universities and faith-based organisations, are undertaking institutional farming.
“A key pillar of the Feed Ghana Programme is the home gardening initiative,” President Mahama stated. “Families are being encouraged to grow vegetables at home to reduce food expenditure, improve nutrition and enhance food availability.”
He revealed that government is deliberately shifting agriculture from rain-fed dependence to irrigation-based farming to ensure year-round production and climate resilience. Interventions underway include the construction of two new mega dams, rehabilitation of eight irrigation dams and 250 solar-powered boreholes across northern Ghana and the Bono and Ahafo regions. Major schemes at Weija, Tono, Bontanga, Ashaiman and other areas are also being rehabilitated, while over 1,300 hectares of inland valleys are being developed for rice production.
The President announced a 20-million-dollar agro-input distribution project targeting 50,000 farming households, including 30,000 women and youth, across 12 districts in six regions. The programme supports maize, rice, soya bean, cowpea and groundnut production, alongside poultry and vegetable cultivation through solar micro-irrigation.
Procurement processes are ongoing for 660 tractors and 400 combine harvesters to equip new Farmers Service Centres nationwide. “In the next two weeks, I will cut sod for the first Farmers Service Centre in the Afram Plains,” he said.
To strengthen extension services, 540 motorbikes have been procured, with 150 already distributed. Additionally, 10,000 young people are being enrolled under a National Service agripreneur programme.
“As of October 2025, 70,000 commodity-focused farmer cooperatives have been established,” the President added, stressing government’s commitment to linking farmers with agro-industrial investments to stabilise prices and boost food security.
