EX TV GH People Matter
Tamale, August 2025 — Minister for Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku has launched a US$20 million agro-input distribution project in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone, describing it as a major step toward building resilient food systems and reducing Ghana’s dependence on imports.
The initiative, funded through the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) with technical support from the African Development Bank, forms part of an expansion of the Savannah Investment Programme and aligns with the government’s flagship Feed Ghana agenda.
“This project is carefully designed to broaden its reach, improve livelihoods, and contribute meaningfully to our national vision of food and nutrition security,” Opoku said at the launch in Tamale.
The minister noted that the project will directly benefit 50,000 households — with at least 30,000 women and youth targeted — across 12 districts in six regions. It will focus on staple crops such as maize, rice, soybean, cowpea, and groundnut, alongside new investments in year-round vegetable farming powered by solar irrigation systems.
A significant component of the project, Opoku emphasized, is poultry production. Farmers will receive subsidized inputs including:
50,000 guinea keets for backyard poultry,
50,000 pullets for egg production, and
50,000 broilers and guinea fowls for commercial farmers, supported with feed, vaccines, and medication.
“These interventions will not only strengthen the poultry value chain but also cut down the billions we spend on importing poultry products,” the minister said.
The programme also establishes a US$1 million revolving fund to give farmers and value chain actors access to affordable financing.
At the launch, Opoku oversaw the first distribution of inputs, including over 46,000 bags of fertiliser, thousands of bags of rice, maize, soybean and cowpea seeds, and organic fertilisers for vegetable farming.
He urged farmers to adopt best agronomic practices, stressing that the long-term impact depends on the responsible and sustainable use of the resources.
“With this launch, we are taking another step towards building resilient agricultural systems that generate jobs, improve nutrition, and ensure food security for all Ghanaians,” Opoku concluded.
Source: Contributor
