PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Ghana’s Country Senior Partner, Vish Ashiagbor, has called for urgent steps to modernise Ghana’s agricultural sector and firmly connect it to industry through value addition.
He warned that the persistent disconnect between primary agriculture and agro-processing remains a critical bottleneck, hindering investment and growth.
Ashiagbor stressed that Ghana’s heavy dependence on rain-fed farming makes the sector unpredictable and unattractive to financial institutions and investors.
“The solution may not be straightforward, but the gap is clear, we lack a strong link between primary agriculture and the value addition segment,” he said. “If you’re a financier, you’re not just thinking about the farm but the entire chain, how the money comes back and what risks exist along the way.”
Risk Perception Blocking Finance
According to Ashiagbor, the agriculture sector’s high-risk image is a key reason why farmers and agribusinesses face limited access to credit and higher borrowing costs. Without modern farming practices and infrastructure like irrigation systems, lenders are reluctant to finance activities that remain at the mercy of weather patterns.
“The rate at which lenders provide financing is directly tied to perceived risk,” he explained. “Agriculture is still seen as high-risk because we haven’t modernised the sector. We’re not deploying enough innovation, technology, or data to make it less vulnerable.”
He added that consistent productivity made possible through mechanisation, climate-smart practices, and digital tools is crucial to changing this narrative and attracting more capital into the sector.
Ashiagbor also stressed that the adoption of technology can transform how agriculture is financed and practiced in Ghana. “With the right data and irrigation infrastructure, farmers and agribusinesses can produce more reliably. That reduces the risk for lenders and improves the likelihood of repayment.”
He also noted that transforming agriculture into a viable business sector requires building strong supply chains that link farmers to processors, marketers, and export markets. Without these connections, he said, agriculture will remain stuck at the subsistence level.
His remarks come at a time when the government is ramping up efforts to revitalise agriculture under the Mahama administration’s new agribusiness strategy and the 24-hour economy policy. The recently held National Agribusiness Dialogue aims to attract private sector participation, expand value chains, and promote innovation across the sector.
Ashiagbor said such initiatives are timely but must be backed by policy reforms, investment in infrastructure, and a deliberate push to shift agriculture from a survival-based activity to a commercially viable industry.
“What we need is a complete mindset shift to view agriculture not just as farming, but as a business that feeds into a broader industrial ecosystem,” he added.
