Last year, the agriculture industry contributed $476 million to overall non-traditional export (NTE) revenues.
According to figures supplied by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), this equals 14.29 percent of NTE revenues in the year under review.
The figure also reflects a 9.93% increase over the $433.02 million generated in 2020. The cashew nut was the highest earner among the top ten agricultural items, accounting for approximately 60.38 percent of the total reported from the sector. This represents a 14.35% increase over what it provided in 2020. Flowers earned the least of the top ten earnings, giving roughly 1%. However, its contribution to overall earnings increased by 8.10% compared to 2020.
Agriculture products
A breakdown indicates that bananas provided $35.57 million to the sector's contribution to NTEs, accounting for 12.76%, while fresh or chilled tunas contributed $20.6 million, accounting for 24.81%. Mangoes generated $19.57 million, or 5.05 percent of total revenues, while yams contributed $11.5 million, or 14.44 percent. Medicinal plants and components provided $9.7 million, or 26.59 percent of the total. While pineapples provided $9.5 million, or 29.04 percent, Other goods that performed well were shea nuts (karite nuts) — $20.1 million, or 46.43 percent of total earnings — and soya beans, which contributed $18.6 million, or 45.93 percent of total earnings.
Increasing agricultural exports Some strategic interventions for agro and non-agro raw material production are included in the new National Export Development Strategy (NEDS). A plan paper, for example, has been produced to increase yam exports from $11,490,801 in 2021 to almost $108 million by 2029.
The NEDS, which is projected to significantly increase Ghana's export volumes, aims to increase NTEs from $3.3 billion now to $25.3 billion in 2029. Under the NEDS, $60 million will be invested yearly to diversify and expand the country's exports. Among the specific interventions in the strategy document relating to the yam export industry are the development of land use policies to secure dedicated areas for yam cultivation for export; the development of improved varieties for consumption and industry; the strengthening of links between research and development institutions and the yam industry; and the promotion of mechanized yam cultivation, among others.
The strategy is built on three pillars: expanding and diversifying the supply base for value-added industrial export products and services; improving the business and regulatory environment for export; and developing and expanding the necessary human capital for industrial export development and marketing. Horticultural items, including yam, are among the 17 priority products that will be created based on specified criteria targeted at transitioning the economy from a raw material to an industrialized one. Processed cocoa, cashew, oil seeds, fish and fisheries goods, textiles and apparel, and natural rubber sheets are also on the list. The remainder consists of objects made of plastic and other petrochemical products, services, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel products, autos and vehicles, industrial salt, machinery and components, industrial starch and sugar. According to the study, GEPA is leading the implementation of the NEDS through a private-sector-driven strategy.
