Agriculture Minister Opoku calls on Ga Mantse, cites 4.6m-tonne maize harvest for 2025

Pinned summary · as of 05:21

Food and Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku visited the Ga Mantse, Nii Teiko Tsuru II, hoping to build a working relationship between his ministry and traditional rulers on farming and food security. The minister told the chief that Ghana harvested over 4.6 million tonnes of maize last year, well above the roughly 3.6 million tonnes the country needs.

What we know

• Mr Opoku made a courtesy visit to the Ga Mantse as the first step in the ministry's talks with traditional authorities, with the discussion turning on how chiefs can help spread farming information and government programmes to rural communities.
• The Ga Mantse asked for closer cooperation so that farmers get timely and accurate word on agricultural programmes, and he assured the minister that the Ga State would keep backing the ministry.
• Nii Teiko Tsuru II urged the ministry to give maize special attention, pointing to its place in the food and incomes of the Ga people.
• Mr Opoku said the ministry wants farming to shift from subsistence to a profitable business that appeals to young people and gives them lasting work.
• According to the minister, national maize output passed 4.6 million tonnes in 2025, while demand is put at about 3.6 million tonnes.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Rainbow Radio Online reported the minister as calling the 2025 maize harvest a big gain from the Feed Ghana Programme, the government's flagship farming scheme; no other independent report carries this credit.
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  The Vaultz News calculated from the two maize figures that Ghana holds a surplus of roughly one million tonnes. That is its own reading, and the minister is not reported to have stated it.
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  The Vaultz News reported that a surplus of this kind calls for good storage and dependable markets, since farmers otherwise risk falling prices, and that the government has been working on grain storage capacity and on the bodies that manage farm commodities. It also said the minister had earlier indicated that the national budget should provide for grain silos. No other report says the same.
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  According to The Vaultz News, Mr Opoku said government cannot transform farming on its own and that chiefs, farmers and private businesses have to pull together. It added that he called for more investment, better market access and value addition along the chain.
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  The Vaultz News also suggested the maize surplus opens opportunities for agro-processors making poultry feed, livestock feed, starch and flour; this is the paper's own observation and has not been confirmed elsewhere.

Why it matters for Ghana

Maize is a staple in Accra and across Ghana, and it feeds the poultry and livestock sectors, so the size of the harvest and how it is stored and sold shapes what farmers earn and what households pay. Getting chiefs involved in passing on farming information could help smallholders in the Ga areas and beyond hear about ministry programmes sooner. The figures come from the minister himself, so farmers and traders will be watching for how the government backs them with storage and markets.