Agric Minister urges coordinated measures to reset Ghana’s oil palm industry

The minister of Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku, has called for coordinated measures to reset Ghana’s oil palm industry and transform its production potential into jobs, industrial growth, and reduced imports. He said the country needed to move beyond policies and targets to practical action that would raise productivity, strengthen smallholder participation, expand processing, and ensure sustainable development of the sector. Mr Opoku made the call on Wednesday when the Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA) convened the 2026 National Palm Stakeholders Forum in Accra on the theme “From Policy to Practice: The Role of TCDA in Resetting Ghana’s Oil Palm Industry.” He said oil palm was a strategic link between agriculture and industry, supporting farmers, processors, traders, transporters, manufacturers, and service providers while providing raw materials for soap, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, animal feed, and bioenergy.

The minister noted that Ghana’s annual demand for palm oil substantially exceeded domestic supply, resulting in a production deficit that was largely met through imports. He said the gap represented lost jobs, underutilised processing capacity, unreliable markets for farmers, and foreign exchange that could otherwise remain in the economy. “Policy acquires value only when it changes lives,” he said, urging stakeholders to leave the forum with clear responsibilities, timelines, resources, and measurable targets.

Mr Opoku said the government’s 2026 budget target to establish 100,000 hectares of new oil palm plantations was not simply an acreage expansion programme, but part of efforts to build an integrated, sustainable, and competitive industry. He said the programme would also focus on rehabilitating aging and low-yielding farms, closing productivity gaps, improving planting materials, and bringing suitable new areas into production without destroying forests or environmentally sensitive landscapes. Mr Opoku said particular attention should be given to smallholder farmers, women, and young people, who should have access to secure markets, transparent pricing, extension services, affordable inputs, finance, and opportunities across the value chain.

He appealed to financial institutions to develop suitable financing products for nurseries, producers, aggregators and processors, while traditional authorities, landowners, district assemblies, and … The government has announced plans to support the establishment of 100,000 hectares of new oil palm plantations as part of efforts to transform Ghana’s oil palm industry, create jobs and reduce the country’s reliance on imported palm oil. The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, announced the initiative at the National Oil Palm Multi-stakeholder Roundtable Forum in Accra on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

He said the expansion programme would form part of a broader strategy to move Ghana’s oil palm sector beyond policy commitments and studies towards practical interventions with measurable outcomes. The forum, held under the theme, “From Policy to Practice: The Role of TCDA in Resetting Ghana’s Oil Palm Industry,” brought together key stakeholders, including government officials, the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), farmers, processors, investors, researchers, development partners and traditional authorities. Mr Opoku said Ghana had developed several policies and conducted numerous studies on agriculture over the years, but argued that the focus must now shift towards implementation, coordination and accountability.

“Policy acquires value only when it changes lives,” the Minister said, stressing that the forum must result in clearly defined responsibilities, timelines, resources and measurable targets. He described oil palm as a strategic crop with strong links to both agriculture and industry, noting that the sector provides livelihoods for farmers, nursery operators, transporters, processors, traders and manufacturers. According to him, the industry also presents significant opportunities for women and young people, while palm oil and its by-products serve as raw materials for a wide range of industries, including soap and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, confectionery, animal feed and bioenergy.