Date: 14TH MAY 2025
Venue: MINISTER CONFERENCE ROOM OF MOFA HEAD OFFICE
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Good morning, distinguished members of the media, stakeholders in the agricultural sector, cherished farmers, and fellow Ghanaians.
It is with great honour and a deep sense of national responsibility that I welcome you to this important press briefing on the Government’s transformative Feed Ghana Flagship Programme, a central pillar of our national agenda for food self-sufficiency, agribusiness development, and the realisation of the 24-Hour Economy envisioned by His Excellency the President, John Dramani Mahama.
Today, I wish to address a matter of strategic importance: the urgent need for farmers across the country to form cooperatives under the Feed Ghana Programme.
Why Farmer Cooperatives?
In our continued engagement with stakeholders and farmers, it has become evident that for government interventions to be impactful, farmers must be organised into groups that facilitate coordination, access to support, and sustainability.
Cooperatives are proven instruments of empowerment. They enable farmers especially smallholder and vulnerable groups to enjoy the benefits of scale, collective bargaining, and structured engagement with both government and private sector players. Forming cooperatives is not just an administrative requirement; it is a strategic pathway to transformation.
Government Support through the Feed Ghana Programme
The Feed Ghana Programme is designed to directly support organised groups of farmers to access:
- Farmer Service Centres (FSCs): These Centres offer mechanisation services, input distribution, extension support, and access to climate-smart technologies. Organised groups will be given priority in the allocation and access to these Centres.
- Banking and Financial Services: Through partnerships with rural and commercial banks, we are facilitating the delivery of tailor-made agricultural financial products, including savings, insurance, and mobile money platforms.
- Access to Credit and Investment: Under the Poultry Industry Revitalisation Project, registered cooperatives will be eligible to secure loans and investment packages from financial institutions and private investors. This includes access to high-yield breeds like the Kuroiler birds, feed subsidies, and training in good husbandry practices.
- Input Subsidies and Strategic Reserves: Registered groups will benefit from prioritised access to subsidised seeds, fertilisers, and animal feed under various government initiatives.
- Training and Capacity Building: Cooperatives will receive targeted training in modern farm management, agribusiness skills, and digital agriculture.
- Market Linkages and Price Negotiation: Through aggregation, cooperatives are better positioned to negotiate competitive prices and enter long-term supply contracts with institutional buyers such as the Ghana School Feeding Programme, hospitals, the Ghana Prisons Service, and export market actors.
- Policy Advocacy and Inclusion: Cooperatives are key channels through which farmers can be represented in national policy discourse and included in decision-making platforms at district, regional, and national levels.
Additional Benefits of Farmer Cooperatives
Beyond the Feed Ghana Programme, cooperatives:
- Promote knowledge sharing and adoption of best practices.
- Enable bulk purchasing of inputs at lower costs.
- Facilitate collective marketing of produce, reducing post-harvest losses.
- Provide a social safety net through shared resources and support during shocks and disasters.
- Enhance the capacity to attract donor and NGO support.
Call to Action
I am therefore calling on all farmers, especially smallholder farmers, women, youth, and persons with disabilities, to take this opportunity seriously. Organise yourselves into farmer-based organisations and cooperatives in line with your crops, livestock, or value chain activities. Our district agricultural offices are ready to assist you with the process of registration, governance training, and linkage to support services.
In the coming weeks, the Ministry will roll out sensitisation campaigns in all regions, engage traditional authorities, and work closely with Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure the smooth formation and formalisation of farmer cooperatives across the country.
Let us join hands in this national effort to feed ourselves, create jobs, and build a resilient agricultural economy that works for all.
Thank you, and may God bless our farmers, our land, and the Republic of Ghana.
Signed
ERIC OPOKU (MP)
MINISTER FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE