Ghana’s ambition to strengthen food production and achieve lasting agricultural self-sufficiency could remain under serious pressure if trained agricultural graduates continue to stay unemployed while many farming communities still lack adequate technical support. This is according to Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Dr. Frank Ackah.
Speaking to The High Street Journal, Dr. Ackah argued that the country’s agricultural transformation goals cannot be fully realised if the very professionals trained to support farmers, improve productivity and guide agricultural best practices are left outside the system for years.
For him, the issue is no longer simply about graduate unemployment, it is about whether Ghana is effectively building the human infrastructure needed to sustain its food security agenda.
“We are not going to meet that standard of ensuring that Ghana is self-sufficient because the farmer is just doing his own thing,” he said.
Dr. Ackah’s comments come as concerns grow over the backlog of agricultural graduates seeking government absorption, with some reportedly remaining unposted for up to seven years despite national efforts to boost food production.
He believes this disconnect exposes a deeper structural weakness in Ghana’s agricultural strategy.
According to him, agricultural colleges exist to produce trained officers who can work directly in ministries and communities, helping farmers adopt better production methods, improve yields, and strengthen food systems.
But when those graduates remain home, he says, the result is a dangerous gap between policy ambition and practical execution.
Dr. Ackah stressed that food self-sufficiency depends not only on government programmes but also on the presence of qualified agricultural officers in farming communities to guide farmers consistently.
Without that support, he warned, farmers may be left to navigate production challenges largely on their own, weakening efforts to improve efficiency, sustainability and output.
“That is the challenge that we are having,” he said, referencing reports from some communities where farmers say they have little or no access to agricultural officers.
He further questioned the long-term effectiveness of agricultural policies if trained graduates are not central to implementation.
For him, deploying the right agricultural personnel is not optional, it is foundational.
His broader argument is that Ghana cannot genuinely pursue agricultural transformation while sidelining trained agricultural officers who were specifically educated for that purpose.
Dr. Ackah is urging stronger focus on posting and recruiting qualified agricultural graduates, insisting that self-sufficiency will depend not just on strategy, but on whether the country fully utilises the human capital already trained to support its farmers.
