Ghana remains one of Africa’s leading producers of agricultural commodities, exporting cocoa, cashew, shea, maize and a range of horticultural crops each year.
Yet supermarket shelves across the country are dominated by imported processed foods made from the very crops grown locally.
In an interview, Mr Daniel Fahene Acquaye, Chief Executive Officer of Agri-Impact Group, explains why Ghana continues to sit at the bottom of the agricultural value chain despite its production strengths.
According to Mr Acquaye, the problem begins at the farm gate, where most smallholder farmers operate with limited capital, weak storage infrastructure and little connection to processing markets.
“Farmers are under pressure to sell immediately after harvest,” he said. “Without access to storage, aggregation centres or guaranteed offtake, the quickest option is to sell raw produce, often at low prices. That sets the tone for the rest of the value chain.”
He explained that this early exit from the value chain leaves little incentive for quality standardisation, traceability or processing readiness. “Once crops leave the farm as raw commodities, value creation shifts elsewhere, usually outside Ghana.”
Mr Acquaye noted that the gap widens at the aggregation and logistics stage. Poor rural roads, post-harvest losses and high transport costs make it difficult to move produce efficiently from farms to processing facilities.
“A tomato that should be processed in northern Ghana often rots before it reaches a factory,” he said. “When logistics fail, processing becomes risky and expensive. Importing processed alternatives then appears cheaper and more reliable.”
At the processing level, Mr Acquaye pointed to limited industrial capacity as a major constraint. While Ghana has made progress in agro-processing, he said many factories operate below capacity or shut down due to inconsistent raw material supply, high energy costs and financing challenges.
“Processing plants need steady volumes, consistent quality and predictable costs,” he explained. “But when raw material supply is seasonal and uncoordinated, factories cannot plan effectively. This discourages both local and foreign investors from scaling up food processing.”
Financing, he added, remains a critical bottleneck. Agro-processing is capital-intensive, requiring long-term investment in machinery, packaging, food safety systems and certification.
“Banks are more comfortable financing trade than processing,” Mr Acquaye said. “Importing finished food has quicker turnover and lower perceived risk. Processing takes time, patience and policy support, which are often missing.”
He also highlighted the role of standards and consumer preferences in sustaining imports. Many imported foods benefit from strong branding, uniform quality and compliance with international standards, giving them an edge on local shelves.
“Local processors struggle with packaging, shelf life and certification,” he said. “Even when the raw materials are Ghanaian, the final product may not meet supermarket requirements. That pushes retailers toward imports.”
Policy inconsistency further compounds the challenge. Mr Acquaye observed that while government programmes frequently promote value addition, implementation has been uneven.
“We announce ambitious agro-industrial plans, but incentives, infrastructure and enforcement rarely move together,” he said. “You cannot tell farmers to produce more if processors cannot absorb the output, and you cannot ask processors to invest if imports undercut them.”
He argued that Ghana’s continued dependence on imported processed food is not a failure of agriculture, but of coordination across the value chain. “The problem is not production. It is the disconnect between farming, processing, logistics and markets.”
To reverse the trend, Mr Acquaye called for a deliberate value-chain approach that links farmers to processors through structured contracts, improves rural infrastructure, and protects local processors from unfair import competition.
“Countries that industrialised through agriculture did not export raw crops and import finished food,” he said. “They built systems that rewarded local processing and retained value at home.”
Until those systems are firmly in place, Mr Acquaye warned that Ghana will continue exporting raw wealth while importing expensive food products made from its own crops.
“Value addition is where jobs, incomes and food security are created,” he concluded. “If Ghana wants a resilient agricultural economy, it must stop selling crops at the farm gate and start selling food from its factories.”
