Agriculture stakeholders are pressing the government for a 10 percent budget allocation agriculture commitment in the upcoming 2027 national budget, warning that years of single-digit funding have left farmers stranded and food security compromised.
With Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson preparing to present the budget on November 12, farm groups say it's time to stop underfunding the sector that feeds the nation.
The 2026 Budget didn't ignore farming entirely. It promised 50 Farmer Service Centres, GH¢200 million for the National Food Buffer Stock Company, 200 solar-powered boreholes, and funds to rehabilitate livestock stations, backed by an overall allocation of roughly GH¢13.9 billion, up GH¢1.5 billion from the prior year.
Farmers say those figures look fine on paper, but slow fund releases and chronic shortfalls mean actual implementation has lagged far behind promises on the ground.
A Commitment Broken Since 2003
Bismark Nortey, Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, says the country needs to finally respect the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme target it signed up to more than two decades ago.
CAADP asks African Union members to give at least 10 percent of public spending to agriculture.
"We have, you know, Ghana is a signatory to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, which mandates all member states that we should allocate at least 10% of the national budget to the agricultural sector," Nortey
"And Ghana has been a signatory to this programme since 2003. And unfortunately, since that period, we've not had any consistent percentage allocation to the sector.
"So for us, our call has been consistent. The minimum that we expect Ghana to do is the 10%. For us, it is non-negotiable." - Nortey
Nortey also took aim at the government's much-promoted New Economy Agenda, insisting agriculture must take the lion's share of whatever funding is earmarked for that plan.
"I have heard that the government is considering what they call the new economy. And our expectation is that agriculture should take a chunk of that new economy," he said.
"In fact, if allocations to that new economy, in terms of financial allocation, anything less than 50% of that allocation not going to the sector is dead on arrival.
"Because you need the sector to stimulate the kind of growth that we want." - Nortey
Poultry Farmers Want Storage, Guaranteed Off-Takers
Poultry producers are raising their own alarms, specifically over feed costs driven by a shortage of maize and soybean storage facilities. High feed prices remain the biggest operational drag on chicken farming in Ghana.
Mohammed Ali, CEO of the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association, says building better local storage and guaranteeing buyers for crop farmers would transform the entire supply chain.
"When we can do it locally and do it cheaply and abundantly, we can have a very good chat," Ali said.
"The local producer of the soya and maize, what they are expecting from us as a feed miller, when we talk to them about that, when there's a guarantee, any time we produce, there's an off-taker. That reduces their burden." - Mohammed Ali
Stakeholders say real progress won't come from fresh announcements in Parliament. It requires actual money leaving the treasury on time, turning budget speeches into real seeds, silos, and cheaper food for Ghanaians.
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