Bryan Acheampong
GOVERNMENT, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), has launched the Ghana Tree Crop Diversification Project, in Accra under the theme, “Sowing the Seeds of the Future: Unlocking Ghana’s Tree Crop Potential for Inclusive and Sustainable Transformation.”
With Ghana’s tree crop sector generating an income for over 1.6 million farming households including commercial producers beyond cocoa, it stands as a vital component of the nation’s agriculture and the economy.
The sector also offers significant opportunities for economic diversification, job creation, poverty reduction, food security, foreign exchange earnings, and a substantial contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In 2019, government established the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), which launched a five-year development strategy in 2022 targeting six priority crops namely cashew, shea, mango, coconut, rubber, and oil palm.
This strategy aimed to regulate and sustainably develop the production, processing, and trade of these tree crops around four key strategic and operational areas namely research support; production and value chain support including commercialisation; capacity building; and licencing and regulation.
Speaking at the launch in Accra, sector minister, Bryan Acheampong, stated that government has secured a $200 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group (WBG) to finance a six-year initiative called the Ghana Tree Crop Diversification Project (TCDP).
The project’s objectives, he explained, are to support sector-wide activities, reforms, and investments in priority agro-ecological areas to maximise effectiveness; enhance the national institutional framework and governance of the tree crops sector; promote inclusivity by improving governance and management within the sector, with afocus on women and youth, while strengthening the capacity of key institutions; leveraging existing national institutions to scale up ongoing initiatives in tree crop development.
“The project,” he underscored, “will directly benefit cocoa, cashew, coconut, and rubber farmers, improving productivity and incomes for 52,775 farmers and their households.
“Approximately 40% of these beneficiaries will be women, located across 11 districts in the Western North, Eastern, Savannah, Bono, Bono East, and Eastern regions.
“Additionally, the project will support five to ten input suppliers and ten nurseries. Through matching grants, technical assistance, and improved access to markets,
an estimated 185 small and medium-sized enterprises involved in processing cocoa, cashews, and coconuts will also benefit.”
The risk of child labour in tree crops project will also be addressed through an integrated prevention, identification, and remediation system, added the minister.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the TCDA, William Agyapong Quaittoo, noted that With the governing board’s top priority to establish a “world-class” institution that fosters a competitive, sustainable, and market-driven tree crop industry in Ghana, the Board, over the medium term, anticipates
significant industry transformation through the Ghana Tree Crop Diversification Project (GTCDP), focusing on three key areas namely policy and regulatory development; market responsiveness, and private sector growth.
According to him, “resources from the GTCDP will be allocated to support inclusive and sustainable transformation in the cashew, coconut, and rubber value chains.”
For his part, Robert Taliercio O’Brien, Country Director for the World Bank, partners of the project, intimated that these interventions aim to support the government of Ghana’s efforts to diversify and grow the economy by modernising agriculture, accelerating industrialisation, and prioritising climate resilience and mitigation, saying they align with the objectives of the National Medium-Term Development Policy Framework (2022–2025) and the “Ghana Beyond Aid” reform agenda (2019–2028).
“The World Bank is proud to be a partner in this important initiative. Our long-standing commitment to Ghana’s development, particularly in the agricultural sector, aligns perfectly with the objectives of the GTCDP. By diversifying the country’s tree crop value chains, we are not only boosting productivity but also creating new opportunities for rural communities, fostering resilience against climate change, and strengthening Ghana’s position in the global market,” he said.