In a passionate address, Ms. Akosa stressed that while Ghana has repeatedly acknowledged the importance of food systems and sustainability, practical efforts to build resilient agricultural structures remain weak. “We talk a lot about food security, but we are not aligning governance, education, and infrastructure to actually achieve it,” she noted.
She described the energy and readiness of Ghanaian farmers, especially the youth, who she said are eager to do more when supported with training, platforms, and mentorship. “Young people have proven beyond doubt that if mentored and educated about agricultural opportunities, they will deliver. We’re seeing it every year in our Agrihouse boot camps,” she said.
Drawing on field experiences, she cited glaring missed opportunities in regions like Yendi and Wale Wale, where crops like sesame and watermelon are produced in abundance but lack basic processing facilities. “In Yendi, women are producing so much sesame, but where are the machines to process it? How can they scale? These are the practical issues,” she emphasized.
Ms. Akosa advocated for a regional approach to agriculture where each of Ghana’s 16 regions identifies and develops what it can do best, both in crop and livestock production. “Let’s develop infrastructure around regional strengths. Let’s stop trying to do everything everywhere. If Ashanti can produce more poultry, let’s build around that. If the North is good for shea or sesame, let’s invest there.”
She also raised concerns about the neglect of agriculture in education. Many agricultural colleges, she said, no longer have demonstration farms or laboratories, with lands now converted to real estate or dormitories. “We cannot talk about the future of food while starving agriculture education,” she warned.
Referencing the 2003 Maputo Declaration, which calls on African governments to allocate at least 10% of national budgets to agriculture, she noted Ghana’s failure to meet this commitment. “Without real financial investment, we will remain dependent on donor funding. That means our priorities will always be shaped by external interests.”
She concluded with a powerful call for reform: “We have everything we need land, people, knowledge. What we need now is vision, structure, and the will to act. Sustainability is not a slogan. It must be built one region, one product, one system at a time.”
