Agri-Impact Limited’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Daniel Fahene Acquaye, has expressed concerns about the allocation for agriculture in the 2025 national budget, arguing that the funding is far too low.
Speaking at the 2025 Budget Digest organized by PwC in Accra, he criticized the current distribution of funds for its inability to support the economic transformation the government envisions. Out of a total budget of GH¢279 billion, only GH¢1.5 billion, equating to 0.54% has been dedicated to the agricultural sector, a sharp decline from the 2.2% allocation in 2024.
“The point I’m making is that the budget allocation to agriculture in this year’s budget is highly insufficient. If we see a decline in the government’s own budget allocation to agriculture, not donor funds, then we are definitely going to face challenges,” he stated.
While acknowledging the government’s rollout of the GH¢13.8 billion Big Push initiative, Mr. Acquaye questioned the lack of a detailed breakdown for these allocations. He urged the creation of a dedicated “Big Push for Agriculture,” one that would target key areas such as irrigation, post-harvest systems, and large-scale agricultural infrastructure.
He further emphasized the need for more substantial investments in agricultural infrastructure, noting that although institutions like the Ghana Exim Bank, GIRSAL, and the Development Bank of Ghana provide support for agribusiness, they do not address transformative projects like irrigation systems, warehouses, and road networks.
“We have sector-specific funds like GETFund for education and COCOBOD for cocoa, but there is no dedicated fund for agriculture,” he noted.
On the vulnerability of northern Ghana, where farmers depend on a single production season, Mr. Acquaye warned that delayed rainfall in 2023 resulted in crop losses exceeding 90% in some regions, and leaving many farmers unable to replant until the next year.
Similarly in 2024, the region was hit heavily with low rainfall, causing crops to fail, which saw an increased cost for farmers who had lost their crops to low rainfall. The impact was felt across various sectors of agriculture, including poultry farming, where farmers lacked poultry feed for their birds.
Additionally, he stressed the importance of “agri-enablers” to attract young people to the sector. While the government plans to roll out policies like free tuition for first-year tertiary students, he maintained that such initiatives must be accompanied by investments that create opportunities for skilled agricultural graduates.
He further called on the government to reconsider its budget priorities, asserting that without significant investment in agricultural infrastructure and enablers, the country’s broader economic transformation will remain incomplete.
