By Charles Mensah | Development Communications Consultant, Mech Consult Ltd
In 1985, Vietnam was struggling to feed itself. Food production had declined under the collective farming structures inherited from its post-reunification socialist agricultural model, leaving the country dependent on imported rice to meet domestic demand.
However, by 1989, just four years after agricultural reforms began, Vietnam had exported 1.4 million tonnes of rice, becoming the world’s third-largest rice exporter. By 2023, the country was exporting approximately 8.1 million tonnes of rice valued at $4.7 billion, placing it among the world’s leading rice exporters. By 2025, it had overtaken Thailand to become the world’s second-largest rice exporter.
Ghana, by comparison, has significant agricultural potential. Its arable land, favourable climate and established agricultural communities provide opportunities for large-scale rice cultivation across the Volta Region, the Ashanti floodplains and the northern agricultural zones.
Yet, every year, Ghana spends billions of dollars importing food products that could be produced locally.
The usual explanation for this contradiction is not simply a lack of agricultural potential. It is a structural governance problem that has made it difficult to sustain agricultural investment long enough for domestic production to reach a competitive scale.
With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) now operational, the consequences of this challenge extend beyond domestic food security. They raise a much bigger question about Ghana’s ability to develop the manufacturing and agro-processing capacity needed to compete effectively within the African market.
The AfCFTA Opportunity
The African Continental Free Trade Area entered into force in May 2019, with trading officially commencing in January 2021. The agreement brings together 54 African Union member states, representing more than 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP exceeding $3.4 trillion.
The AfCFTA Secretariat’s projections indicate that full implementation could increase intra-African trade by more than 50 per cent and lift 40 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035.
Ghana occupies an important position within this arrangement. Accra hosts the AfCFTA Secretariat, while the country’s port infrastructure provides access to several markets across West Africa and the landlocked economies of the Sahel.
Ghana also has established trade relationships across the continent and a private sector with the experience and expertise to benefit from the opportunities presented by the expanded African market.
However, being strategically positioned is not the same as being prepared to compete.
For Ghana to benefit meaningfully from the AfCFTA, it must develop a strong manufacturing and agro-processing base capable of producing goods that can compete in quality, price and volume across regional markets.
That requires sustained investment in agriculture, particularly in the supply chains that provide raw materials for processing industries. Without reliable agricultural production, storage, transportation and distribution systems, the country’s ambitions for industrial growth will remain difficult to achieve.
Lessons from the Komenda Sugar Factory
The Komenda Sugar Factory in the Central Region remains one of the clearest examples of Ghana’s challenges with agro-processing development.
Constructed at a cost of $35 million, with part of the funding provided through Indian government credit support, the factory was commissioned in 2016 to process locally grown sugarcane into refined sugar and help reduce the country’s dependence on imported sugar.
Although the factory was built and processed some sugarcane, operations eventually stalled. The problem was not simply the processing facility itself but the failure to develop the agricultural supply system required to sustain its operations.
The irrigated sugarcane fields, contract farming arrangements, transportation infrastructure and technical support programmes needed to supply the factory consistently were not developed alongside the processing facility.
In other words, the processing capacity was established without putting in place the agricultural system needed to make it commercially sustainable.
Unfortunately, the Komenda experience is not an isolated case.
Ghana has tomato-processing facilities that operate below capacity because domestic supplies are inconsistent and seasonal. Some fruit-juice-processing businesses depend on imported raw materials because local supply chains have not been sufficiently stabilised.
The poultry industry also faces challenges, with domestic processing capacity operating below its potential while imported poultry products continue to occupy a significant share of the market.
Post-harvest losses further compound the problem. According to estimates cited by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, approximately 40 per cent of Ghana’s agricultural output is lost annually, partly because of inadequate cold-chain facilities, storage infrastructure and processing capacity.
Across these sectors, the same problem continues to emerge. Investments are made in processing facilities, but the agricultural infrastructure required to supply them consistently is often delayed as government priorities change.
When a new administration takes office, it inherits underperforming facilities and introduces new initiatives, while previous investments continue to struggle.
The result is a cycle of interrupted programmes, wasted resources and missed opportunities.
Ghana’s $3.25 Billion Annual Food Import Bill
The Ghana Statistical Service estimates that the country’s annual food import bill exceeds $3.25 billion.
The imports include rice, poultry, processed cereal grains, vegetable oils, sugar and wheat, products that Ghana has the agricultural potential to produce locally at a competitive scale with the right investment and policy support.
This level of dependence raises serious questions about the country’s agricultural priorities, particularly considering its commitment to transforming the sector and strengthening local production.
The African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Biennial Review Report has consistently identified Ghana’s progress in reducing food import dependence as being off track.
Ghana has also committed to the Maputo Declaration, which requires governments to allocate at least 10 per cent of their national budgets to agriculture and rural development, as well as the Malabo Declaration on accelerated agricultural transformation.
However, the implementation of these commitments has been inconsistent across successive administrations.
World Bank assessments of Ghana’s agricultural spending have also highlighted the challenge of expenditure being heavily concentrated on recurrent activities and short-term subsidy programmes, with inadequate investment in the infrastructure, research and market development required to improve long-term agricultural competitiveness.
This should not be interpreted as a failure of ambition by any particular government. Since 1993, successive administrations have introduced agricultural policies and programmes aimed at transforming the sector.
The deeper problem is the lack of continuity.
Agricultural policies are frequently reshaped or replaced following changes in government, making it difficult for long-term initiatives to achieve their intended results.
For instance, a smallholder farmer who adopts a new crop variety through an extension programme may become reluctant to embrace another programme when the original initiative is discontinued after a change in administration.
Over time, confidence in government agricultural programmes weakens, adoption rates decline and the supply chains needed to support agro-processing industries fail to stabilise.
This is a major obstacle to Ghana’s ability to develop the agricultural foundation required to compete under the AfCFTA.
Vietnam’s Experience: The Importance of Policy Continuity
Vietnam’s agricultural transformation offers important lessons for Ghana.
The country’s Doi Moi economic reforms, introduced at the Sixth National Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party in December 1986, marked a significant turning point in its economic development.
One of the most important agricultural reforms was Directive 10, commonly known as khoán 10, introduced in 1988.
The policy recognised individual farming households as independent economic units and dismantled the failing collective farming structure. It also granted households land-use rights, initially for 15 years, with subsequent extensions.
This allowed farmers to make decisions about production, invest in their farms and respond more directly to market demand.
However, Vietnam’s success was not driven by land reforms alone.
The government maintained long-term investment in irrigation infrastructure across major agricultural areas, particularly the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta.
It also supported agricultural research, improved the development and distribution of rice varieties, expanded rural road networks and strengthened extension services to ensure that farmers received the technical assistance needed to improve production.
The country’s sustained partnership with the International Rice Research Institute also contributed to the development and adoption of rice varieties suited to its agricultural conditions.
Perhaps the most important lesson was the continuity of these policies.
Agricultural development was treated as a national priority and embedded within the country’s institutional planning framework rather than being dependent on the personal commitments of individual political leaders.
Consequently, investments made in the late 1980s continued to produce results through subsequent leadership transitions.
Vietnam’s experience demonstrates that agricultural transformation does not depend solely on the political system a country adopts. It also requires effective planning, institutional commitment and the willingness to sustain investment over several years.
These are lessons Ghana can apply within its own democratic and governance framework.
The Agricultural Framework Ghana Needs
If Ghana is serious about benefiting from the AfCFTA, it must move beyond policy announcements and develop a long-term agricultural framework that survives changes in political leadership.
The country needs an institutional commitment to developing the agricultural supply chains that will support its agro-processing ambitions and strengthen its position within the African market.
One important step would be to establish a binding agricultural framework through the National Development Planning Commission, aligned with the country’s long-term national development plan.
Such a framework should establish clear import-substitution targets for rice, poultry, tomato products and sugar, while setting measurable investment milestones for irrigation, cold-chain infrastructure, agricultural research and processing facilities.
Programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs and similar initiatives introduced by successive administrations have demonstrated the potential of government-supported agricultural interventions.
However, their long-term impact depends on consistency, proper evaluation and sustained investment beyond individual political administrations.
Ghana must also strengthen funding for agricultural research.
A constitutionally protected and predictable research funding framework for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and its agricultural research institutes would help protect scientific development from fluctuations in government spending.
Brazil’s sustained investment in its agricultural research institution, EMBRAPA, provides a useful example of how long-term research funding can support agricultural transformation.
Another important proposal is the establishment of a National Agricultural Supply Chain Fund.
The fund could be structured as a statutory financing mechanism to support multi-year investments in irrigation, storage facilities, transportation, farmer support programmes and the supply systems required by agro-processing industries.
This would provide a more reliable financing structure for agricultural development and reduce dependence on short-term budgetary decisions.
Importantly, the private sector must also play a stronger role. Government alone cannot build a competitive agro-industrial economy.
Partnerships involving farmers, financial institutions, processors, distributors and technology providers will be necessary to improve productivity, strengthen supply chains and attract investment into the sector.
Ghana Must Look Beyond the Opportunity
The AfCFTA Secretariat is located in Accra, and the continent’s most ambitious free trade framework is already operational.
Ghana has the land, water resources, agricultural knowledge and private-sector capacity to develop a competitive regional agro-industrial economy.
However, these advantages will mean little if the country cannot produce enough quality raw materials to support its processing industries and meet the demands of regional markets.
The real question is not whether Ghana has the potential to transform its agricultural sector. It is whether the country can establish the governance structures and long-term investment commitments required to realise that potential.
Ghana’s annual food import bill of more than $3.25 billion should therefore be viewed as more than an economic statistic. It reflects the scale of the opportunity being missed and the cost of failing to build a competitive domestic agricultural supply system.
As African countries prepare to take greater advantage of the AfCFTA, Ghana cannot afford to remain a major importer of products it has the capacity to produce.
The country must begin to treat agriculture not merely as a sector requiring periodic government intervention, but as a strategic foundation for industrialisation, job creation, export growth and economic independence.
Vietnam’s experience shows what sustained agricultural investment and institutional continuity can achieve.
Ghana has the opportunity to draw from those lessons and develop a model suited to its own circumstances.
The AfCFTA market is open. The opportunities are available. What Ghana now needs is the political will, institutional discipline and long-term planning to ensure that it does not simply become a market for other African countries, but a competitive producer and supplier within the continent.
The time to address the country’s food import dependence is now.
