President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana will invest $500 million to develop 100,000 hectares of oil palm and create 250,000 direct jobs, as his administration moves to position tree crops as a central pillar of the country’s “reset” agenda and broader green economy strategy.
Speaking at the inaugural Ghana Tree Crops Investment Summit in Accra, Mahama also announced the relaunch and acceleration of the $200 million World Bank-supported Ghana Tree Crop Diversification Project, which will distribute millions of seedlings to farmers and provide matching grants to small and medium-sized enterprises.
The summit is being held under the theme: “Sustainable Growth Through Tree Crop Investments: Resetting and Building Ghana’s Green Economy.”
“We will no longer export raw cashew, raw shea or unprocessed rubber while importing the same finished products at higher prices,” Mahama said, adding that the government’s target is “50 to 60 % local processing annually,” supported by agro-industrial parks, incentives for private processors and stronger oversight through the Tree Crops Development Authority.
Mahama framed the initiative as both an economic and security imperative, warning that instability in the Sahel is disrupting regional trade routes that Ghana depends on for agricultural commerce. He cited the recent ambush of Ghanaian traders in Burkina Faso who had travelled to buy tomatoes, saying some were killed and others injured.
“The Ghana army is arranging to medevac them from Burkina Faso so that those who are injured can continue to receive treatments here in Ghana,” he said, offering condolences to affected families.
Shift from raw exports
The president said Ghana’s long-standing dependence on exporting raw commodities, particularly cocoa, has left the economy exposed to climate shocks and global price volatility. He described the recent cocoa crisis as a turning point, arguing that the country should take pride not in being a leading exporter of raw cocoa beans but in becoming a top exporter of processed cocoa products.
“To think that in the 21st century we are still the largest leading exporter of raw cocoa beans, that is not an accolade we should take pride in,” he said.
Mahama said the government has already moved to change cocoa financing by raising funds locally in cedis to pay farmers, while allocating a larger share of beans to domestic processors to expand value addition and job creation.
Tree crops at the center of diversification
He mentioned that the tree crops are central to the NDC’s 2024 manifesto, which commits to resetting Ghana’s economy by strengthening productive sectors, expanding exports and positioning agriculture as a driver of industrial transformation.
For decades, agriculture has contributed about 21% to Ghana’s gross domestic product, he said, with cocoa earning roughly $2 billion annually and supporting millions of livelihoods.
He urged that the country must diversify beyond cocoa through six priority tree crops: cashew, coconut, oil palm, rubber, mango and shea.
Together, he said, the crops employ more than 1.6 million people and support rural economies, while contributing about 2% of national GDP and 4.5% of agricultural GDP. Shea supports more than 500,000 households, mostly women, while cashew employs nearly 890,000 people, he said. Rubber supports about 500,000 farmers and oil palm provides jobs for more than 120,000 people.
“These are not secondary crops, they are engines of transformation,” Mahama said.
Oil palm plan to cut imports
Under the National Policy on Integrated Oil Palm Development, Mahama said the government will invest $500 million to scale the sector, which he described as “red gold.”
He said the plan aims to eliminate the 40% of oil palm Ghana currently imports and position the country as a net exporter.
Seedlings and SME grants
According to the president, the $200 million diversification program will distribute 7.8 million cashew seedlings, 2.3 million rubber seedlings and 3.9 million coconut seedlings to more than 30,000 farmers.
He said 52,775 households will benefit directly, while 185 SMEs will receive matching grants. He said he has directed the Tree Crops Development Authority and Cocobod to expedite implementation.
“Our farmers not paperwork,” he said.
Export ambition
The tree crops will also be integrated into the government’s proposed 24-hour economy, with production, processing, logistics and exports operating continuously to boost productivity and job creation.
He said Ghana’s export ambition remains $12 billion annually by 2035, translating to $2 billion per crop across the key tree-crop value chains.
“It’s very ambitious, I agree,” he said. “And yet it’s achievable.”
Mahama called on investors, development partners and traditional leaders to back the strategy, arguing that access to land remains one of the biggest constraints to scaling tree crops. He urged public officials and other leaders to invest directly in farming, saying government must lead by example.
“We can’t just always talk and say people should go back to the land when you yourself are not going back to the land,” he said.
