The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, has stated that Ghana is on course to become a significant food exporter, thanks to its thriving agricultural sector.
Speaking at the 5th-anniversary celebration of the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL), Dr. Addison underscored the crucial role agriculture plays in the country’s economy, particularly its impact on employment and food security.
He pointed out that food items make up 43.7% of Ghana’s consumer basket, reflecting the sector’s centrality to the nation’s food security.
Dr. Addison also stressed the importance of reducing Ghana’s reliance on food imports, which currently account for approximately 10% of total imports, valued at $1.5 billion. By lowering imports, he noted, Ghana could preserve its foreign exchange reserves.
Additionally, Dr. Addison highlighted the potential for export-oriented agriculture to significantly boost Ghana’s foreign exchange earnings, positioning the country as a key player in the global food market.
“Agriculture Financing is a critical strategy to Ghana’s development strategy due to the important role agriculture plays in the economy, particularly in employment and food security. From the Macroeconomic perspective, agriculture contributes about 24% of the GDP and employs an estimated 40% of the workforce.”
“Development within the agricultural sector is critical for the economy given the weight of food items in the consumer basket which accounts for 43.7 % and therefore a major driver of headline inflation in this country.
“It’s also instructive to know that on average, food imports nearly account for 10% of total imports, translating to about 1.5 billion in terms of import values.”
“The agricultural sector also holds a huge potential to help boost our country’s foreign exchange reserve. First, as an import substitution strategy, sufficient food production locally, will the food import bill [be enough] to prevent hard-earned forest exchange reserves.
“Secondly, through the export promotion strategy, Ghana could become a major food exporter which would improve the sector’s foreign exchange earnings.”
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