Ghana Goes Fully Local: Gov’t Bans Imported Seeds for All Agric Programmes from 2026
Eric Opoku, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, has made a big change in policy: starting in 2026, all government agriculture programs in Ghana will have to use only locally grown seeds. He made the decision while speaking at the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Monday, November 24. He said it was because of years of problems caused by delays in importing seeds, which often came in after the growing season. He said that the government has put a high priority on local seed production as a way to improve food security. He also said that only selling locally sourced seeds will help the domestic seed industry, make seeds more available, and make sure that farmers get them on time, all of which are important for getting better returns. Mr. Opoku stressed that “without seed sovereignty, there can be no food security.” He also talked about how strong Ghana’s agricultural research schools are and how they have the skills needed for researching, developing, and testing seeds. He also said that the ministry would work with these groups to improve the country’s seed production processes and make sure that farming would be stable in the long run.
