The Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) is stepping up support for Ghana’s shea industry with farm inputs and logistics aimed at improving collection efficiency and strengthening the livelihoods of pickers and collectors across the country’s northern regions.
The intervention, led by TCDA Chief Executive Officer Dr Andy Osei Okrah, targets shea sector associations and value-chain operators in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Savannah and North East regions, where the industry provides a major source of income for rural communities.
The support is being provided under the authority’s flagship Agricultural Inputs Distribution to Tree Crops Farmers programme. The initiative is designed to provide inputs and logistics to tree-crop farmers and other value-chain participants to raise productivity and expand economic opportunities.
The items were handed over Tuesday at the Northern Regional Coordinating Council Residency.
Okrah said the logistics were selected to address challenges specific to shea pickers and collectors, particularly women who often work in difficult terrain and travel long distances to gather and transport shea nuts.
He said the programme aligns with President John Dramani Mahama’s Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda, which seeks to use agriculture as a driver of productivity, industrialisation and value addition.
The push comes as Ghana seeks to deepen value addition in agricultural commodities and increase the economic returns generated by rural production. Strengthening the early stages of the shea supply chain could help improve the movement of raw nuts from producing communities to processors and other downstream businesses.
Okrah also called for accountability and proper record-keeping in the use of the equipment while urging beneficiaries to maintain the logistics to extend their useful life.
The TCDA will monitor and supervise the use of the items to ensure they serve their intended purposes and generate benefits for beneficiaries and the wider shea industry, he said.
Speaking on behalf of Northern Regional Minister Ali Adolf John, Regional Economic Development Planning Officer Isaac Mengo described the intervention as timely, saying the support could improve collection efficiency while reducing the physical and economic burden on shea pickers and collectors.
According to the authority, beneficiaries welcomed the support, saying it would help ease operational challenges and strengthen their activities in the shea value chain.
