The founders of GAFET presenting a cheque to the minister
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has launched the Ghana Agricultural Fund for Education and Transformation (GAFET), a national endowment aimed at providing sustainable financing for agricultural education and the human capital needed to transform the sector.
The Fund was launched in Accra by the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku.
Under the model, contributions will be pooled into a professionally managed endowment. The capital will be preserved and invested, while annual returns will finance approved priorities across the agricultural education system.
“If Ghana wants to transform agriculture, it must invest in the people who will transform agriculture,” said Steven Nhyira Odarteifio, Lead Coordinator of GAFET.
He said the Fund will focus on closing the gap between classroom learning and the demands of modern agriculture. Priority areas include laboratories, demonstration farms, mechanisation, digital agriculture, research and innovation, agribusiness incubation, and faculty development.
The goal, he added, is to ensure graduates leave with both technical and entrepreneurial skills to participate in a technology-driven agricultural economy.
Mr. Opoku described GAFET as the human-capital pillar of the government’s flagship Feed Ghana programme.
“Before we can sustainably feed Ghana, we must equip Ghana. The quality of agricultural transformation will depend on the quality of agricultural human capital,” he said.
Mr. Opoku also noted the government had increased funding to agricultural colleges from GH¢35,000 to GH¢100,000 per institution, contributing to a 35% rise in enrolment.
GAFET mobilised GH¢3.5 million in founding capital at the launch. It targets GH¢10 million by December 2026 and GH¢100 million by December 2028.
The Fund will transition to a full endowment structure in Q4 2026 with a governing board, fund administrator, SEC-licensed fund manager and custodian bank. It is expected to become a permanent statutory body through an Act of Parliament.
Governance will include independent annual audits and a capital-preservation investment policy, with published annual summaries.
GAFET will initially support 21 institutions — 5 standalone agricultural colleges and 16 universities and technical universities. Returns will fund practical training, mechanisation, research, digital agriculture, incubation, faculty development and scholarships.
Secretariat Technical Lead, Seyram Kofori-Ndinya, said, “Our objective is to show how the Fund will be governed, so that every contribution made today actually outlives all of us in this room.”
Five Ghanaian agribusinesses — AgriSolve, GrowForMe, New Age Agric Solutions, Tradeline Consult and Farmerline — have signed on as founding partners.
A Business Desk Report