The Chief Executive Officer of Agri-Impact, Daniel Fahene Acquaye, has urged the government to adopt long-term, non-negotiable policies that ensure consistent support for local rice, maize, and poultry producers.
His concern follows widespread reports of a growing food glut across the country. In the Northern and Eastern Regions, farmers have lamented the lack of market for their locally produced rice, noting that weeks after harvesting, much of their produce remains on the farms with little to no buyer interest.
In the Bono Region, poultry farmers—particularly those in the egg business—say they are being forced to bury portions of their stock or sell at extremely low prices just to stay afloat.
To address the situation, President John Dramani Mahama directed the Ministry of Education to procure eggs from local farmers. He has also instructed the National Food Buffer Stock Company to purchase grain from farmers for storage.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, Mr. Acquaye said that while recent directives for schools and state institutions to purchase locally produced rice and chicken are welcome, such measures must be embedded in an enduring national policy rather than short-term government instructions.
“Recently, we heard the government saying it has directed schools and government institutions to buy off the local rice from the farmers, as well as chicken. This is good, but this should be a policy that cannot be changed by just any government. This allows the private people to plan well,” he said.
According to him, Ghana’s persistent cycle of food glut and scarcity is largely due to ad-hoc interventions that fail to prepare the value chain ahead of harvest seasons.
He warned that delays in implementing the new directive could worsen post-harvest losses.
“Today, we say the government should buy locally produced rice. When is it taking effect? By the time they go through all the processes to buy the rice, our post-harvest losses would have shot up. The private sector doesn’t have enough warehouses to store rice, and cash flow is so tight because people are not buying. They end up cutting prices and incurring losses just to stay in business,” he noted.
Mr. Acquaye argued that if the government had announced the policy at the beginning of the year, stakeholders would have had sufficient time to prepare storage, logistics, financing, and distribution systems before the harvest season.
“If in January this year, we had made the policy that we are going to buy locally produced maize, rice, and chicken or eggs, we would have put all the systems in place before harvesting. It is not when there is a glut that we put in some short-term intervention,” he said.
He reiterated the call for agriculture policies that “stand the test of time” and transition seamlessly from one administration to the next, saying this is the only way Ghana can stabilise its food supply chain and protect farmers from recurring financial distress.