Government Launches GH¢100 Million Fund to Transform Agricultural Education in Ghana

Accra – The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has launched a GH¢100 million agricultural fund aimed at strengthening agricultural education, skills development, innovation, mechanisation, and entrepreneurship as part of efforts to transform Ghana’s agricultural sector.

The initiative, known as the Ghana Agriculture Fund for Education and Transformation (GAFET), is being positioned as a long-term national endowment to support institutions responsible for training agricultural professionals and developing the human capital needed to modernise farming and agribusiness.

Launching the fund in Accra, Mr Opoku said Ghana’s agricultural transformation could not depend solely on machinery, irrigation and financial investments, stressing that developing skilled professionals was equally critical to achieving sustainable growth in the sector.

He said the country needed stronger collaboration between government and the private sector to improve agricultural education and ensure that graduates had the technical and practical skills required to respond to the changing needs of farmers and agribusinesses.

The Minister described GAFET as a major human capital component of the government’s Feed Ghana Programme, which seeks to increase food production, modernise agricultural practices, expand irrigation and mechanisation, promote agro-processing, reduce food imports, increase exports and create jobs, particularly for young people and women.

According to him, agricultural colleges, universities, technical institutions and research centres have played a significant role in producing professionals who support farmers through extension services, technical expertise and leadership across the agricultural value chain.

However, he noted that many of these institutions require renewed investment to upgrade laboratories, workshops, demonstration farms, machinery, digital learning facilities and research infrastructure. He also called for curricula that are more responsive to the practical demands of modern agriculture.

Mr Opoku stressed that agricultural education must go beyond classroom theory by providing students with practical experience that prepares them to operate machinery, manage farms, work with irrigation technologies and address real challenges within the agricultural value chain.

Private Sector Support

The Minister said the scale of the investment required meant that government could not work alone. GAFET, he explained, is therefore designed to bring together the private sector, development partners, financial institutions, philanthropic organisations, alumni associations and individuals to support agricultural education and professional development.

An initial GH¢3.5 million has already been raised from five agribusiness companies — Grow For Me, Agrisol, Thermaline, New Age AgriSolutions and Trade Line Consort.

The fund is targeting GH¢10 million by December 2026, with an eventual goal of reaching GH¢100 million by December 2028.

To promote accountability, the fund will operate under a governance structure involving a governing board, an independent fund administrator, a licensed fund manager, a custodian bank and an independent external auditor.

21 Institutions to Benefit

Co-Coordinator of GAFET, Steven Nhyira Odarteifio, said transforming Ghana’s agriculture required a corresponding transformation of the institutions that train the country’s future agricultural workforce.

He observed that some agricultural graduates leave school without adequate practical exposure to modern machinery, demonstration farms, equipment maintenance and irrigation systems.

Under the initiative, 21 beneficiary institutions are expected to receive support for laboratories, workshops, demonstration farms, modern agricultural equipment, research, digital learning tools, scholarships, internships and industrial attachments.

The organisers believe the investment will help bridge the gap between agricultural education and industry needs while producing a new generation of skilled professionals capable of driving innovation, productivity and competitiveness in Ghana’s agricultural sector.