Status: active

Ghana’s economy still depends heavily on its agricultural potential, which accounts for 75 percent of exports, cocoa beans and related products contribute nearly 32 percent of total merchandise exports. The overall agricultural sector of Ghana was estimated at 13.2 billion USD in 2021, contributing a total of 19.26% of the country’s GDP (World Bank, 2021). The agriculture sector accounts for 30% of employment through direct and indirect labour opportunities and 800, 000 farm families engaged in crop farming and livestock production (PHC, 2021). The vast majority of farmers in Ghana are smallholder farmers accounting for 85% of total farms in the country. Most of them have limited access to input and output markets, which results in low land and labour productivity leading to poverty, lack of savings and thus investments The Ministry of Food and Agriculture together with international development partners confirmed very low fertilizer nutrient application by Ghanaian farmers, of approximately 15 kg ha-1, while depletion rates range from about 40 to 60 kg of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) ha-1 yr-1 and among the highest in Africa. Over the last four years the Ghanaian government has provided a subsidy range for organic and inorganic fertilizer as well as some selected seeds under its flagship planting for Food and Jobs programs to boost local food production, support food security as well as create jobs in communities. Annually the government under the planting for Food and jobs initiatives subsidizes the prices of fertilizer (5 to 50 percent) for about 70 percent of the total demand for the country.