Ghana must establish a national fertiliser reserve and dedicated seed bank as a matter of urgency, or risk having its agricultural sector held hostage by external market disruptions, the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana (CAG) has warned.
Speaking on Business Focus on Monday, CAG Chief Executive Officer Anthony Morrison said rising global fertiliser prices and Ghana’s heavy dependence on imports had exposed a dangerous structural vulnerability in the country’s food production system, made worse by the current global supply shock triggered by the conflict in Iran and the disruption to oil and commodity supply chains.
Morrison argued that without a strategic stockpile of fertilisers and certified seeds, even a temporary disruption in global shipping lanes or a spike in import costs could cascade into failed harvests, food price surges, and deeper food insecurity across Ghana’s farming communities.
The call builds on a broader agenda CAG has been advancing in recent months. The Chamber has already proposed a Ghana National Agricultural Transformation Strategy covering 2026 to 2045, backed by a $30 billion investment mobilisation plan. Morrison has previously warned that Ghana spends over $2.5 billion annually importing food the country could produce domestically, while farmers remain poor and youth continue to exit the sector.
A similar logic drove the Chamber’s earlier call for a Strategic Grain Reserve Procurement Programme through the National Food Buffer Stock Company, which CAG said would stabilise prices and protect poultry, livestock and food processing industries from erratic supply.
Morrison on Monday stressed that a fertiliser reserve and seed bank would serve as an insurance mechanism, ensuring that planting seasons proceed regardless of external price volatility or logistical bottlenecks. He urged the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry to treat the proposal as a matter of national economic security rather than a routine procurement discussion.
