Boosting Food Security - The Launch of the Feed Ghana Programme
In a strategic effort to reduce the country’s dependence on food imports and strengthen its agricultural foundation, Ghana has introduced the Feed Ghana Program (FGP), a central initiative under the broader Agriculture for Economic Transformation (AETA) agenda. Led by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) under Minister Eric Opoku, the FGP aims to boost local food production, support job creation, and contribute to a more resilient agricultural economy. President John Dramani Mahama launched the program on April 11th 2025 in Techiman, as part of the country’s ongoing efforts towards food self-sufficiency.
Ghana’s Agricultural Challenge
Ghana, covering an area of 238,539 km², is endowed with abundant natural resources, including fertile soils, forests, and valuable mineral deposits such as gold and diamonds. Of the country’s total land area, approximately 136,000 km² (or 13.6 million hectares) is suitable for agriculture, with around 24% (or 5.8 million hectares) currently under cultivation (World Bank, 2024, FAO, 2024). This underscores the central role of agriculture in Ghana’s land use and its broader economy. The sector contributes significantly, accounting for roughly 20% of the country’s GDP.
However, despite its agricultural potential, Ghana continues to face persistent challenges. One of the most pressing issues is the country’s heavy reliance on food imports, which cost an estimated 2 billion dollar annually, with poultry imports alone accounting for approximately 300 million dollar. This dependency has negative implications for the country by exposing the country to external fluctuations, currency instability, further straining the economy.
In addition limited access to essential inputs such as quality seeds and healthy soils, along with inefficient production practices, inadequate infrastructure, storage facilities and processing unites, as well as insufficient financing and weak integration with in the food system, are challenges that severely impact food prices and the availability of food items at the consumer level.
Key Initiatives Under the Programme and Key Initiatives by the Netherlands in Ghana
The FGP is designed to address these challenges through a comprehensive approach that focuses on eight initiatives covering the various aspects of the sector:
- Advancement of SMART agriculture
- Grains and Legume Development
- Vegetable Development Project “Yeredua”
- Support for institutional Farming
- Livestock and Poultry Industry Revitalization “Nkukor Kitin Kitin”
- Feed the Industry Programme
- Infrastructure and Agro-production enclaves
- Agricultural Financing
First component - Vegetable Development Project
The start of the programme will focus on three key initiatives. The first component is the backyard and community garden under the Vegetable Development Project, also known as “yeredua” in the local parlance. In his remarks at the Launch, H.E President John Dramani Mahama encouraged Ghanaians to grow vegetables to improve nutrition and reduce food cost. The Vegetable Development Project will promote modern farming techniques such as greenhouse farming, field irrigation systems and urban-peri urban vegetable farms.
“We will do backyard gardening. Everybody will be encouraged to get some land near your house or behind your house and have a garden where you grow tomatoes, garden eggs, okra, onions, and pepper. We have done this before. We’ll encourage community gardens to enhance nutrition and household incomes.” - President John Dramani Mahama.
The Netherlands over the years have promoted the production and use of vegetables in Ghana through various programs and projects such as the Ghanaveg, Hortifresh and recently the Community Garden Project at Adenta. The Community Garden initiative have trained over 1000 home gardeners and residents in vegetable cultivation and entrepreneurship providing opportunities to learn valuable skills, generate income and contribute to food security in their communities. This program has become a successful reference model with other communities set to establish their own gardens too.
Vegetable production begins with seeds, which are a vital component of the agricultural value chain. Ghana’s seed sector is emerging as a key player in regional seed trade and harmonization, while also importing substantial quantities of vegetable seeds (Kuhlmann et al., 2023). The Netherlands plays a key role in seed sector development, as seen in the Ghana Seed Sector Assessment, which offers recommendations to improve this sector. Initiatives the Netherlands support in seed sector development include East West Seed Knowledge Transfer, which is training 12,000 farmers in the Ashanti and Western regions on good agricultural practices and the use of quality hybrid seeds. Recognizing the importance of the informal seed sector and the need to conserve indigenous vegetables like peppers, garden eggs, and okra, the Netherlands has also supported the establishment of a community seed bank at the Mangoase Senior High School in the Akwapem North District, giving rural farmers access to quality seeds.
Second component - Institutional Farming
The second component of the FGP is institutional farming, aimed at encouraging Senior High Schools and other institutions with available land to venture into crop and livestock farming. This is to complement the school feeding programme and encourage students to view agriculture as a viable career. Ghana’s unemployment rate is at 14.7% (Ghana Statistical Service, 2023) with youth aged 15 to 24 being the most affected demographic at 65%. However, the agricultural sector presents a viable opportunity to address and reduce this challenge.
The Netherlands is collaborating with five agricultural colleges, the Technical University of Delft, and several Dutch companies to enhance horticultural curricula by introducing courses focused on farming as a business. The program offers a four-month entrepreneurship course in Agribusiness and Horticulture to both students and professionals. Over 2,000 individuals have acquired valuable knowledge, empowering them to venture into agribusiness.
Third component - Revitalization of Ghana’s Poultry Industry
The third major component of the programme is the revitalization of Ghana’s poultry industry through the “ Nkukor Kitin Kitin” (small chickens) initiative. The ever increasing imports of poultry into Ghana is alarming with expenditure as high as 300 million dollar annually. To address this, the initiative includes the Poultry Farm-to-Table project and household poultry production, which aim to reduce dependency on imports and boost local production. The Netherlands is supporting Ghana's ambition to revitalize its poultry industry by developing the entire value chain. Dutch investments in this sector are increasing, with companies establishing production in Ghana, including the animal feed company De Heus (formerly Koudijs) and breeding companies Kuipers Breeders and Hendrix Genetics, which supply day-old chicks for both layers and broilers. There are also significant opportunities in hatcheries, feed mills, veterinary services, and poultry processing centers.
“Ghana imports almost 400 million dollars’ worth of chicken every year. This we all must be ashamed of” - President John Dramani Mahama.
Call to Feed Ghana
Through the Feed Ghana program, the government is urging all stakeholders - farmers, private sector players, financial institutions, and the general public - to support the initiative. The collaboration between the government, stakeholders, and international partners marks an important first step toward a more food-secure and resilient agricultural landscape for Ghana.
In conclusion, the launch of the Ghana Feed Program presents a unique opportunity for investment in the country's agricultural future. By supporting this initiative, stakeholders can help drive food security, increase productivity, and unlock new economic opportunities. We encourage Dutch companies to invest in Ghana and share their expertise to make a meaningful contribution to a more sustainable future.