The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku has expressed optimism about Ghana’s agricultural outlook for 2026, stating that favorable weather conditions and increased government investment in the sector are expected to result in a bumper harvest this year.
Speaking during a working and familiarization visit to P & A African Food International Ltd in Accra on Friday, June 19, the Minister disclosed that government is intensifying efforts to support farmers through the distribution of fertilizers, recruitment of agricultural extension officers, and expansion of storage infrastructure to reduce post-harvest losses.
According to him, the rains this year have been highly favorable for farming activities across the country, giving farmers better prospects for improved yields.
“We are expecting good harvest this year because the weather has been very favorable,” the Minister stated.
“We are deploying a lot of resources to the field and making available huge quantities of fertilizer to support our farmers.”
He further revealed that the Ministry is recruiting additional agricultural extension officers to help farmers adopt modern farming techniques aimed at increasing productivity and improving food security nationwide.
“We are deploying extension officers to the field to bring modern techniques of production to farmers to enable us to produce sufficiently,” he added.
Mr. Opoku stressed that one of the major priorities of government is to improve the country’s food storage capacity to avoid wastage during peak harvest seasons.
He explained that the Ministry is collaborating with donor partners to rehabilitate existing warehouses while also importing mobile storage facilities to preserve grains and other food products.
“As we speak, we are working with WLP to bring back that huge storage facility internally so that we can store some of our grains there,” he noted.
The Minister disclosed that government is planning to import about 80 mobile storage facilities, each with an 80-ton capacity, to support food preservation efforts across the country.
He emphasized that without adequate storage infrastructure, even massive food production could result in losses.
“If you don’t have storage facilities, even if you have the money to buy the produce, how do you store them? At the end of the day, the food will go waste,” he said.
Touching on food prices, Mr. Opoku stated that government has made significant progress in reducing food inflation since assuming office.
According to him, food inflation stood at 28.3 percent when the current administration took office in January, but has now reduced to below 3 percent.
“When we assumed office, food inflation was 28.3 percent, but within a short period we have brought it down to less than 3 percent,” he said.
He, however, explained that fluctuations in food inflation are normal due to Ghana’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
The Minister noted that food prices usually decline during harvest periods and increase slightly during lean farming seasons, especially when irrigation farming is limited.
“Because our agriculture is largely rain-fed, food inflation normally goes down during harvest season and rises during the lean season,” he explained.
Despite recent marginal increases, he maintained that the situation remains far better compared to previous years due to improved weather conditions and ongoing irrigation projects across the country.
“Our goal is to bring food inflation to the barest minimum so that food will be available and affordable for everybody,” he added.
Mr. Opoku called on Ghanaians to appreciate the gains made so far in the agricultural sector while government continues implementing policies aimed at ensuring food security and economic stability.
By 1960news.com
