By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr. Eric Opoku, has announced that over 1,500 peasant farmers in Northern Ghana will benefit from the government’s $1m support for vegetable production.
As part of efforts to boost vegetable production under the Feed Ghana Project, the government will soon disburse the $ 1 million support to the over 1,500 peasant farmers across Northern Ghana
Speaking in an interview with an Accra-based Citi FM on Monday, April 14, 2025, the Agric Minister maintained that the government’s priority is to empower grassroots farmers, many of whom are already engaged in tomato and other vegetable cultivation.
According to Mr. Opoku, many of the farmers engaged in tomato and other vegetable cultivation lack the financial capacity to scale up their operations, hence the government’s desire to step in with direct financial support.
The Minister is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Apex Bank on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, to formalise the disbursement of the fund.
“We are dealing with the peasant farmers because they are in the field and are registered. We are also trying to put some of them into cooperative. Some are already into the tomato production. So, it is just a matter of our team identifying them and giving them the logistics they require to be able to do that.
In some cases, some of them do not have the financial muscles to be able to do the kind of work they are doing. So, in the coming Wednesday, April 16, 2025, I will engage the media because I will sign an MoU with the Apex Bank for the distribution of the $1 million to over 1500 peasant farmers in the Northern part of the country for the production of vegetables. This is just the beginning,” the Agric Minister reiterated.
Mr. Opoku also highlighted the government’s technical support for farmers, noting that improved seeds and farming inputs are being supplied to ensure higher productivity and year-round cultivation.
“Our technical team has come up with the best quality and we are supplying that to our farmers. I have been to the field and I can tell you we have the technical know-how to surpass what Burkina Faso is doing,” he assured.
