The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has appealed to the private sector, development partners and the public to support the Ghana Agriculture Fund for Education and Transformation (GAFET) to strengthen agricultural education and skills development.
The Fund, launched in Accra on Tuesday, has received initial seed funding of GHS3.5 million and aims to mobilise GHS100 million by the end of 2028.
Mr Eric Opoku, Minister of Food and Agriculture, made the appeal at the launch, saying the Fund was critical to building the human capital required to modernise Ghana’s agriculture sector and strengthen national food security.
GAFET forms part of the Government’s Feed Ghana Programme and has been established as a national endowment to finance skills development, innovation, mechanisation and agricultural enterprise.
Data from MoFA showed that agriculture contributed about 22 percent to Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while only about two per cent of tertiary students enrolled in agriculture-related programmes.
The Ministry also estimated that institutions providing agricultural education faced an annual funding gap of about GHS12 million.
Mr Opoku said achieving the objectives of the Feed Ghana Programme required a skilled workforce capable of adopting modern technologies and transforming agricultural production.
“Before we can sustainably feed Ghana, we must equip Ghana. Before we transform our farms, we must strengthen the institutions that prepare the people who transform those farms,” he said.
He said GAFET would support agricultural colleges, universities, technical institutions, research centres and other strategic institutions through investments in laboratories, workshops, demonstration farms, modern machinery and digital learning tools.
The Fund would also finance scholarships, research and industry-responsive curricula to strengthen the practical and technical capabilities of agricultural students and professionals.
Mr Opoku said although the Government remained committed to financing agricultural education, the scale of the funding requirement required broader national collaboration.
He therefore appealed to commercial banks, pension funds, insurance companies, agribusinesses, development partners, philanthropic organisations, alumni associations and individuals to contribute to the initiative.
“Government must lead, but society must build,” he said, emphasising that sustainable national development required strong partnerships between the public and private sectors.
Mr Opoku said the Government would commit part of its budgetary allocation to GAFET and work towards establishing it as a permanent statutory institution under the policy oversight of MoFA.
He said the immediate target was to increase the Fund’s resources to GHS10 million by December 2026 before reaching the GHS100 million target by 2028.
The Minister urged Ghanaians to support the initiative by funding scholarships, research, mechanisation, demonstration farms and other interventions aimed at developing the next generation of agricultural professionals.
Mr Steven Odarteifio, Lead Coordinator of GAFET, said the initiative was designed to create a sustainable financing mechanism to transform agricultural education and equip graduates with practical skills to improve productivity and strengthen Ghana’s agricultural value chains.
He expressed optimism that sustained support from the Government, private sector and development partners would enable GAFET to develop into a lasting national institution supporting agricultural transformation.
