Your Excellency,
I write with utmost respect to commend your government’s continued commitment to strengthening Ghana’s agricultural sector. The policy on improving food security and supporting farmers through initiatives under the Reset Agenda and the Feed Ghana Programme demonstrates your administration’s recognition of the critical role agriculture plays in national development. These efforts are deeply appreciated by farmers and stakeholders across the agricultural value chain.
Notwithstanding these commendable efforts, I respectfully wish to draw your attention to a pressing challenge confronting farmers across the country. The sharp decline in commodity prices during the 2025 harvesting season. Many farmers incurred very high production costs due to rising prices of farm inputs such as fertilisers, seeds, and agrochemicals, as well as increasing labour costs. However, the current market prices for produce such as maize, rice, and soybeans have fallen significantly below production costs. This situation has serious implications. Farmers are unable to recover their investments, many are falling into debt, and several may not have the financial capacity to return to their farms for the upcoming 2026 season.
Mr President, I write from my practical experience as an Anchor Farmer who works with over 4,000 smallholder farmers under an out-grower scheme. Under this arrangement, I support farmers with tractor services, farm inputs, warehousing and marketing services. The farmers, in turn, repay these services in kind, mainly with grains. My out-grower scheme operates in the Builsa North, Builsa South, Mamprugu-Moagduri, and parts of the Sissala East Municipalities and Districts.
Your Excellency, my greatest concern is that my 2025 harvest of over 2,000 bags of certified yellow maize seed remains locked up in warehouses without a ready market, while many of my out-growers also have their grains stored in their homes due to the absence of buyers. The implication of this situation is dire. I cannot reinvest in production for the 2026 farming season, and because my out-growers have not been able to repay me for the cost of services, I also lack the financial capacity to support them again this year.
If this situation persists, many of these farmers may scale down production or may not farm at all during the 2026 season. Such an outcome could pose a serious threat to national food security. Mr President, it would be unfortunate if Ghana is compelled to import agricultural commodities such as maize, rice, and soybeans to meet domestic demand, particularly at a time when your administration is prioritising increased local production under the Reset Agenda and Feed Ghana Policy.
Mr President, I listened carefully when you directed the National Buffer Stock Company to mop up excess farm produce from farmers across the country. Unfortunately, on the ground, we have yet to see or feel the impact of this directive. The farming season is approaching rapidly, and in my humble view, the current approach must be strengthened if we are to safeguard the Ghanaian farmer and protect national food security.
Permit me to share a practical example. During the 2025 harvesting season, my out-growers in Djadema, Mamprugu-Moagduri District, appealed to me to assist them with a combine harvester to harvest their rice fields. At the time, my machine had broken down, but out of my commitment to support these farmers, I spent over GHS 60,000.00 to repair it so that their rice could be harvested. However, due to the lack of a market for rice, the farmers have not been able to pay for harvesting services in a timely manner, through no fault of their own. This raises a troubling question for me: what motivation will I have to deploy my combine harvester again in 2026 under similar circumstances? For verification, you may kindly contact Mr Adam Fatawu, the lead farmer for the Djadema out-growers, on 0531875002.
Mr President, these are the realities on the ground. Farmers and agricultural service providers are currently facing a serious financial crisis.
Finally, I wish to comment on a statement attributed to the Minister for Food and Agriculture during a press engagement in Tamale. He mentioned that farmers may receive free fertilisers during the 2026 production season due to the current low prices for their produce. While this proposition may be well-intended, I respectfully submit that a free-input policy is neither feasible nor sustainable, given the large number of farmers in the country. The entire Ministry of Food and Agriculture budget may not be sufficient to support all farmers under such a policy. In practice, such an approach would likely benefit only a few farmers, who cannot meet the national food requirements.
In my candid opinion, the government should rather heavily subsidise farm inputs such as fertilisers, seeds, and pesticides so that these inputs become available, accessible, and affordable to all farmers across the agricultural value chain. This will enable farmers to return to production in the 2026 season. For instance, if a 50kg bag of NPK fertiliser were subsidised between GHS 150.00 and GHS 200.00, most farmers would be able to afford inputs and resume production despite their current financial constraints.
In conclusion, Mr President, many farmers are quietly struggling. The combination of low produce prices and limited market access is eroding their investments and livelihoods. As the farming season approaches, timely and decisive interventions will be crucial to restoring farmers’ confidence and safeguarding Ghana’s food security.
God bless you, Mr President, and God bless Ghana.
Yours faithfully,
Signed
Maxwell Akandem (2010 Second National Best Farmer)
Chief Executive Officer, Akandem Farms Limited
Builsa North Municipality
Email: maxwelakan@gmail.com
Tel: +233(0)20 032 2609/+233(0)24 974 3792
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com