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Ghana’s cashew and oil palm industries, two of the country’s most important tree crops, continue to face deep-rooted challenges that limit their full contribution to the economy.
While oil palm has for decades supported the livelihoods of tens of thousands of smallholder farmers, processors and traders; cashew has in recent years emerged as one of the leading non-traditional exports, generating over $400 million annually.
Despite this contribution, the two sub-sectors are constrained by low yields, inadequate access to improved planting materials, illegal imports that undermine local processors and weak downstream value addition.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, at the maiden policy dialogue on the oil palm and cashew sector in Accra last Monday, stressed that the government was determined to resolve the bottlenecks by empowering the Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA) to act as the apex regulator, harmonising policies across institutions.
The dialogue was designed to foster an enabling environment for the growth of a competitive oil palm and cashew sector.
It was organised by the TCDA with support from the Ghana Private Sector Competitiveness Programme (GPSCP) II and other institutions.
The event, held on the theme: Building an enabling policy environment for developing: Lessons from around the world," created a platform for stakeholders to engage collectively, draw lessons from global experiences, and build consensus on the most effective way forward.
Key speakers and panellists included the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the TCDA, Dr Andy Osei-Okrah; Deputy Head of Cooperation, Swiss Embassy in Ghana, Magdalena Wuest; Agriculture Lead of World Bank, Ashwini Sebastian, and other officials.
Mr Opoku, in a speech read on his behalf by the Chief Director of the ministry, Paul Siameh, expressed concern about the persistent overlaps in institutional mandates and fragmented regulatory frameworks governing the cashew and oil palm sectors.
He explained that the roles of TCDA, the Ghana Standards Authority and several commodity boards often intersected, particularly in areas such as land allocation, quality assurance, export standards and regulation.
He said the situation was further complicated by the involvement of multiple ministries, including Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Finance, and Environment, whose sometimes conflicting policies created confusion for industry players.
At the local level, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) introduce their own restrictions, which often misaligned with national policies.
Those challenges, he said, increased transaction costs, eroded investor confidence, and weakened the country’s competitiveness in the global market.
The minister explained that globally, the oil palm industry was projected to surpass $90 billion by 2030, while cashew continued to enjoy strong and growing demand in both established and emerging markets.
“In Ghana, oil palm has supported livelihoods for decades, providing income to tens of thousands of smallholder farmers, processors and traders.
“Cashew has, in more recent years, emerged as one of our leading non-traditional exports, contributing over $400 million annually to our economy and offering rural households with dependable income,” he added.
Dr Osei-Okrah stated that TCDA was mandated to promote and develop selected tree crops, including cashew, coconut, mango, oil palm, rubber and shea.
He said that those crops were not only of great economic significance but were also deeply interwoven into Ghana’s agricultural potential and broader national development agenda.
However, he said local production amounted to only 300,000 tonnes, leaving a deficit of 150,000 tonnes, which was covered through imports.
Recognising this gap, he added that the President identified oil palm as one of the strategic tree crops under the TCDA, positioning it as a game changer for reviving Ghana’s agro-processing sector.
