- Highlights climate change impacts and the need to attract youth to agriculture
- Acquaye criticizes the low 2025 agricultural budget
- Only 0.54% of the budget is for agriculture, down from 2.2% in 2024
Daniel Fahene Acquaye, the CEO of Agri-Impact Limited, has expressed concerns about the 2025 agricultural sector budget, calling it inadequate.
Speaking at PwC’s 2025 Budget Digest in Accra, Acquaye argued that the allocation is insufficient to support the government’s proposed economic transformation.
He pointed out that of the GH¢279 billion total budget, only GH¢1.5 billion (0.54%) is dedicated to agriculture, a sharp drop from 2.2% in 2024.
“The agriculture budget this year is far too low. If the government continues to reduce its allocation to agriculture, we will face serious challenges,” he said.
While acknowledging the GH¢13.8 billion Big Push initiative, Acquaye questioned the lack of details in its funding breakdown and called for a “Big Push for Agriculture” to focus on key areas like irrigation, post-harvest systems, and large-scale infrastructure. He stressed the need for targeted investment, noting that institutions like the Ghana Exim Bank and GIRSAL support agribusiness but do not address major projects like irrigation systems and infrastructure.
“We have funds like GETFund for education and COCOBOD for cocoa, but nothing specifically for agriculture,” he observed.
Acquaye also raised concerns about climate change, highlighting the vulnerability of northern Ghana, where farmers depend on a single production season. He warned that delayed rainfall in 2023 led to crop losses of over 90%, leaving many farmers unable to replant until the next season.
He called for more “agri-enablers” to attract young people to the sector, emphasizing the need for investments that would provide job opportunities for skilled graduates in agriculture.
Acquaye concluded by urging the government to reevaluate its budget priorities, stressing that without significant investment in agricultural infrastructure and support systems, the country’s economic transformation would not be fully realized.
