Development Specialist in Agriculture and Rural Economy, Dr Abu Sakara Foster, has called for urgent measures to reduce the high cost of doing business in the agricultural sector, saying farmers cannot compete effectively under the current economic conditions.
Speaking at the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA) national roundtable dialogue on agricultural transformation in Accra, Dr Sakara said Ghana must create an environment where investment in agriculture is profitable rather than relying on government support or foreign investors to drive the sector.
He said high interest rates, transportation, storage and other expenses were increasing the cost of production and making Ghanaian agriculture less competitive compared to countries such as China, where producers have greater access to affordable capital and locally manufactured inputs.
“The single greatest impediment to promotion and development of agriculture in Ghana are our high transaction costs,” Dr Sakara said, explaining that transportation, finance and storage all form part of the costs that farmers must bear before their products reach the market.
Dr Sakara stressed that government’s responsibility was not necessarily to hand money to farmers but to remove the structural barriers that prevent the sector from becoming competitive and profitable.
“We’re not asking the government to give us money, but they should remove the impediments that make us competitors,” he stated.
He also urged stakeholders to ensure that the agricultural transformation agenda being promoted under the Ambassador Kojo Amoo-Gottfried Declaration on Agricultural Transformation and Ghana-China Strategic Cooperation translates into concrete action, particularly through stronger collaboration with the business community and sustained policies that can survive changes in government.
According to Dr Sakara, agriculture must ultimately be treated as a business, with profitability at the centre of investment decisions. He argued that investments in machinery, finance and other inputs would not deliver the desired transformation if the underlying business environment remained uncompetitive.
The GHACHIFA roundtable, held under the theme “The State of Agricultural Development in Ghana: Lessons from the People’s Republic of China,” brought together agricultural experts, government representatives, researchers, farmers’ organisations, academia, the private sector and other stakeholders to examine lessons Ghana can draw from China’s agricultural transformation.