Ghana’s agricultural sector faces mounting sustainability risks as falling food prices fail to cover rising input costs, Agricultural Research Scientist Professor Roger Kanton warned at a Channel One TV roundtable assessing President John Mahama’s first year in office.
Food inflation dropped to 6.6% in October 2025 from 9.5% earlier in the year, a sharp decline from 22.8% a year earlier. But Kanton said the relief for consumers has come at the expense of producers. “Food prices are too low for the farmers,” he said, stressing that current market conditions undermine investment in inputs and threaten farm incomes.
Maize, Ghana’s staple crop, is trading at some of the lowest prices globally. “When you take Sissala, for example, it produces the best maize for the country. But the price of a bag of maize, which is 100kg, started from about GH¢220 ($20.51). As I speak today, you will be lucky to sell a bag at GH¢280. It is still hovering around GH¢240–GH¢250, which is so bad,” Kanton said.
At the same time, fertiliser costs have surged. “This tells you that you may need to sell three bags of maize before you can buy one bag of fertiliser. So it is unfair to sit in Accra and jubilate when the prices are down,” he added. Yara fertiliser currently sells for between GH¢500 and GH¢590 per bag.
Kanton called for an “optimal price” that balances consumer affordability with farmer sustainability. “So, there should be a balance between food production with the livelihood of the farmer in mind, such that there will be an optimal price, such that people can afford the food, and at the same time, the farmer can also get a source of income,” he said.
The remarks highlight a policy dilemma for Mahama’s administration: how to sustain low inflation and consumer relief while ensuring farm incomes remain viable. With Ghana’s maize among the cheapest globally, the government faces pressure to align production, markets and input costs to secure long‑term growth in the sector.
