According to a baseline study to examine the state of coffee production in Ghana, this is in view of the fact that with growing concerns over Ghana’s overdependence on cocoa combined with the multiplicity of issues currently being faced in the cocoa sector, coffee offers a promising alternative not only to Ghana as a whole but also to smallholder farmers.

It said for the smallholder crop farmer, coffee offers the opportunity to diversify their production for additional income, adding that “coffee has some prospects in Ghana. 

There exist large tracts of undeveloped agricultural land in Ghana suitable for coffee farming. One of the interventions to promote coffee production could be to encourage and support the youth to acquire such lands and go into coffee production as a source of livelihood and to sustain the coffee sector in light of ageing farmers.”

The report said for instance that, robusta coffee thrived in Ghana due to its rich agroecology and favourable climate. 

“The demand for robusta coffee is increasing in both the international and local markets. Therefore, an increase in coffee production in Ghana can readily be absorbed by both markets,” it said.

The study also established that the growing number of cafés springing up in cities, especially Accra and Kumasi, is an indication of the increasing number of people consuming coffee.

“Increasing demand for coffee is also observed in public offices, private companies and households. An increase in value addition and consumption will provide employment opportunities for the teeming youth at the back end of the supply chain,” it said.

According to the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) Coffee Development Report 2021, global demand for coffee increased by one per cent in 2021 after a 2.2 per cent decline in 2020 as patterns of coffee consumption adjusted and increased due to the bouncing back of the global economy after the covid-19 pandemic.

The study, conducted in December 2022, was carried out in 17 coffee-growing districts across eight regions in Ghana, namely: Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Eastern, Western North, Oti and Volta regions.

The objectives of the baseline survey were to identify the current status of coffee production in Ghana, assess the knowledge and practices of coffee farmers and identify production and marketing constraints of coffee farmers.

It was conducted through funding provided by the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) under the ‘ACP Business-friendly: Supporting the value chains through inclusive policies, investment promotion, alliances programme implemented by the International Trade Centre Alliances for Action.

Findings

According to the report, coffee production is predominantly self-financed in Ghana because farmers do not have access to credit to invest in their farms. 

This limits farmers’ ability to expand or invest in productivity-enhancing technologies such as the use of fertiliser.

“COCOBOD is the main source of planting materials for farmers. If COCOBOD continues to supply planting materials to coffee farmers, the entire coffee landscape will be covered with high-yielding and disease-resistant varieties of coffee,” it said.

It said coffee production was generally low such that the average yield per acre of dried unhulled coffee was 167kg/acre between 2018-2020, 0.068kg/ha far lower than the African average of between 0.1-0.8kg/ha.

Increasing coffee production 

At the launch of the report in Accra, the President of the Coffee Federation of Ghana, Dr Nathaniel Ebo Nsarko, called on the government to invest in agriculture, particularly coffee production, to boost its exports portfolio and earn more foreign exchange. 

He explained that coffee offered a promising alternative not only for Ghana as a whole but also to smallholder farmers as it offered them the opportunity to diversify their production for additional income. 

Dr Nsarko said there existed large tracts of undeveloped agricultural land in Ghana suitable for coffee farming which must be explored.