Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has revealed that the $81.92 million Ghana received from international partners to combat drought in northern Ghana was fully utilised by the previous administration to procure agricultural inputs.
The funds, sourced from the World Bank’s Systems Resilience Programme (H4 SRP), were dedicated exclusively to purchasing fertilizers and seeds for farmers in drought-hit regions.
The minister disclosed this while responding to a parliamentary question filed by Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, Member of Parliament for Keta, who sought clarity on how much funding Ghana had received to address drought in the north and how it had been spent.
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“Mr. Speaker, a total amount of $81.92 million was secured for agricultural inputs under the World Bank’s H4 System Resilience Programme,” Mr. Opoku said.
According to him, the funds were used to procure 117,188 metric tonnes of NPK and Urea fertilizers at a cost of $75 million, and 3,266.5 metric tonnes of rice and maize seeds costing $6.9 million.
“The breakdown shows 100 percent utilisation of the funds on fertilizer and seeds alone,” he added.
When asked whether this expenditure would directly reduce drought conditions, the minister clarified that the inputs funded were not intended to address the environmental causes of drought.
“Certainly, you cannot use fertilizer and seed to reduce drought,” Mr. Opoku stressed.
He emphasised that the spending was done before the current government assumed office on 7th January 2025, and formed part of the drought mitigation measures of the previous administration.
Mr. Opoku assured Parliament that the current government is implementing new, targeted interventions to reduce the impacts of drought and improve agricultural resilience.
“We are putting in place irrigation infrastructure, providing solar-powered boreholes, and constructing and rehabilitating dams to ensure all-year-round production in the northern enclave,” he noted.
Beyond infrastructure, the minister outlined a wide range of farmer training and capacity-building programmes currently underway. Delivered through the Ministry’s Directorate of Agricultural Extension and the Agricultural Engineering Services Directorate, these programmes aim to modernise farming practices, improve productivity, and strengthen food security.
Mr. Opoku explained that the training is delivered through home visits, workshops, and hands-on field demonstrations to ensure farmers can easily adopt new technologies. Extension officers, he said, are actively engaging farmers across the country. Key areas of training include soil health improvement, compost preparation, biochar use, blended fertilizer application for tomatoes, soybean inoculation, minimum tillage, crop rotation, mulching, and cover cropping.
He further stressed farmer support in livestock and poultry production, including improved housing structures, nutritious feed formulation, and preparation of multi-nutritional feed blocks. Additional capacity-building covers pest scouting, integrated pest management (IPM), safe agrochemical use, and proper fertilizer application techniques.
To address post-harvest losses, farmers are being trained in harvesting, sorting, grading, and handling to maintain produce quality. The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to empowering farmers, saying these initiatives will play a crucial role in modernising Ghana’s agriculture and building resilience against drought and climate shocks.