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Dr. Ade Freeman, head of the Africa Regional Program of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said that it would take about 40 millions of dollars to fill the financial gap of the Ghanaian agricultural sector.
He said that there was a deficit in the sector and that until that amount was accumulated, the sector would lag behind.
Dr. Freeman said this during a stakeholder engagement on agricultural finance under the Ghana Agricultural Sector Investment Plan (GhAIP).
Stakeholder engagement was organized by FAO, a United Nations agency, in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and is expected to result in a paper on Orientation to guide the sector.
He said the government, as well as development partners, were not able to provide the amount indicated.
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The program leader said it was necessary for donors, the Agricultural Development Bank, to invest in the region and determine how to mobilize funding resources to feed the sector.
Freeman called on banks, insurance groups, partners and the World Bank to invest in agriculture and look for ways to fill the financial gap.
Participants at the meeting came together to find innovative ways to fill the financial gap in the agriculture sector, he said.
The dialogue should also identify how linkages would be facilitated to stimulate industry, trade and growth, Dr Freeman said.
This, he said, would ensure that all stakeholders are part of the solution to create more jobs, reduce poverty and fight hunger, among others.
A round table was also organized to determine how to finance agriculture, the catalysts expected or the reforms needed to fully exploit the opportunities and benefits inherent in the sector.
Panelists included Mr. Kwesi Korboe, representing both the MOFA and the Central Bank, Ms. Barbara Ghansah of AgDevCo, Mr. Tabi Karikari-BAD, Mr. George Kweku Asiamah-Fidelity Bank and Mr. Andrew Ahianku from Barclays Bank.
They called the power to educate financial institutions to agriculture because they did not understand the sector and lent money to farmers as they do for commercial interests.
Stakeholders also called for a bank risk mitigation tool, adding that farmers had no guarantee for loans other than land.
Farmers should be structured to reduce transaction costs related to access to agricultural credit, the panel said.
It is also necessary to help the banks to set up counters of agriculture and to implement financing of the agricultural sector through GhAIP.
Infrastructure such as irrigation, good road networks and a stable power supply would also be useful if agriculture, the backbone of the country, was successful, they said.
Credit: GNA
www.primenewsghana.com/Ghana News
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