Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture has installed a new National Seed Council team as the country strives to increase the quantity, quality and accessibility of locally produced certified seed and reduce its seed import bill.
The new team, led by Abubakari Mumuni, was inaugurated in late June by John Dumelo, deputy minister for food and agriculture. Dumelo challenged the council to explore sustainable measures that ensure the timely availability of and access to quality seed.
The measures are intended to accelerate growth in the agricultural sector, which contributes more than 20% of the country’s gross domestic product, achieve food security and boost economic growth. According to the African Development Bank, Ghana’s economic growth is projected at 5% in 2026 and 5.4% in 2027.
The council has nine members, including four from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, three representing seed growers, farmers and research institutes, and two presidential nominees. It has come into office when the adoption rate for improved seed in Ghana is less than 12%.
This trend is partly attributed to weak coordination among seed industry stakeholders and the slow development of certified varieties, including those capable of withstanding the effects of climate change.
Dumelo said Ghana is focused largely on reducing its dependence on imported certified seed and improving procedures for the development and certification of locally produced seed varieties. He urged the council “to expedite the review and approval of seed applications to enable Ghanaian seed companies to access certification more efficiently and make improved seed varieties available to farmers.”
Mumuni, the council’s chairperson, said the new team is “dedicated to the task ahead.”
“I can assure you that we will live up to expectations,” he said.
The task includes developing and maintaining connections among stakeholders involved in the production and marketing of different classes of seed, catalyzing growth in the private seed sector and aligning the country’s seed law with global best practices. According to findings from recent studies of Ghana’s seed industry, it is no small task.
For instance, a recent study of Ghana’s seed industry by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and other partners captured key challenges concerning industry stakeholders. The new council is expected to prioritize those challenges and devise sustainable interventions if Ghana is to expand access to certified seed and increase the number of smallholder farmers using affordable, improved farm inputs to achieve food security and better economic returns.
The study identified the low number of variety trials and demonstrations conducted at any given time as an obstacle to farmers’ adoption of new seed varieties. A majority of farmers “were unaware of the potential of quality seed/planting material and improved varieties (climate smart, tolerant to biotic stresses).”
The report also identified inadequate storage facilities, including cold rooms and space to maintain the national seed gene bank, as a major challenge obstructing the seamless flow of trade in Ghana’s seed value chain.
Other priority challenges requiring urgent intervention include “high import duties affecting pricing of certified imported seeds, cumbersome import processes (high costs and delays), and inadequate funding to support research institutions and MoFA stations in breeding programs and early-generation seed production,” according to the report.
In March, the Dutch Embassy in Ghana said, “Seed remains a critical constraint to Ghana’s agricultural transformation, and with fewer than 10% of farmers using certified seed, the real challenge is not policy but delivery at scale.”
Elsewhere, the France-based Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres, a global partnership of international organizations engaged in food security research, said in a recent brief, “Ghana’s largely rain-fed agriculture is witnessing increased vulnerability to climate change due to erratic rainfall, delayed onset of rains and prolonged dry spells.”
“These factors, coupled with continuous use of unimproved seeds by farmers due to limited access, have led to a 25% to 40% decline in yields of major staples such as maize and cowpea, thereby threatening food availability and security,” it added.
Moreover, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa — an Africa-led partnership working to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger — recently identified major gaps in the management of Ghana’s seed industry despite significant developments in its seed policy, legal and regulatory framework.
“These include an incomplete plant variety protection regulatory and institutional framework, national seed rules that are not aligned with the regional Economic Community of West African States seed rules, and limited capacity on the part of regulatory institutions, which affects implementation of seed rules,” AGRA said.
The Economic Community of West African States is a regional political and economic union of 12 West African countries.
AGRA further said the lack of a specific unit or team under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture dedicated to seed system planning and coordination is a constraint to the growth of the seed industry.
The government relies on the ministry’s Ghana Seed Inspection Division to inspect and certify seed production, including breeder seed, foundation seed and certified seed.
The government and private sector account for 20% and 80% of Ghana’s seed industry, respectively. At several forums, representatives of both sectors have identified counterfeit seed, a lack of financial support, limited seed production sites, an improper distribution network, low-quality seed and low adoption rates as pre-eminent issues holding back the growth of Ghana’s agriculture sector, which accounts for 21% of GDP and employs 41% of the country’s workforce.
The government acknowledges the pitfalls stifling efforts to expand the adoption of improved seed and says current policies prioritize the seed sector as a cornerstone of improved agricultural production in this country of 35 million people.
Augustus Tanoh, presidential adviser at the 24-Hour Economy Authority, said Ghana “is not starting from zero” in addressing challenges in the agricultural sector, including the low adoption of improved seed.
“We are starting from a position of strength that now needs to be organized into a coherent national seed delivery system,” he was recently quoted as saying.
The government’s focus for now, he said, is to ensure farmers have affordable access to quality seed while encouraging innovation and discouraging counterfeiting.
“If we get this balance right, Ghana can build an innovation-driven seed system similar to those in leading agricultural economies while adapting it to our local realities,” he said.
Ghana’s seed market has an estimated value of $60 million, according to the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana. The informal seed system accounts for 80% of the market, while the formal system accounts for the rest.
Production of certified seed — 70% of it maize and rice — by government and private companies was estimated at 11,940.30 metric tons in 2022, down from 21,593.46 metric tons the previous year.
NASTAG also estimates certified seed sales volumes to be less than 20%. Sales occur through the formal sector, which comprises local seed companies, seed growers and a few multinational seed firms operating under the regulation of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate.
The informal seed system, which includes the use of seed saved from previous harvests, exchanges among farmers and purchases of grain or seed at local markets, supplies up to 80% of demand, according to official reports.
Ghana previously privatized its seed market and ended direct government participation in production and marketing. Instead, small- and medium-scale seed enterprises, including small-scale farmers and commercial firms, were allowed to produce and sell seed and planting materials, according to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Private companies entering the seed market are required to register and receive annual training, particularly small- and medium-scale seed growers and dealers engaged in seed production and marketing.
Meanwhile, government and private-sector seed industry participants are pursuing initiatives to increase the production of certified seed at affordable prices, even as concerns emerge about the effects of government-run subsidy programs on the country’s seed trade.
For example, Ghana introduced the Planting for Food and Jobs program in 2017. Under the program, the government purchased seed from private companies and seed growers and distributed it to registered farmers at a 50% discount. The effort was intended to support food security, address the country’s $2 billion annual food import bill at the time and create employment opportunities, particularly among young people.
However, this phase was fraught with corruption and inefficiencies, forcing the government, which spent an estimated $348 million on the subsidy program between 2017 and 2023, to shift to an input credit system.
Elsewhere, NASTAG recently said it reduced certified seed prices by 20% to 25% for the 2026 growing season.
“This decision aims to directly alleviate the financial burden on Ghanaian farmers and accelerate the nationwide adoption of high-quality, improved seeds,” NASTAG President Seidu Mubarak said.
“By making quality seeds more accessible, we empower farmers to achieve higher yields, improve resilience to climate variability and enhance their productivity and incomes,” he added.
“NASTAG’s 20% to 25% reduction in seed prices is a bold, farmer-centric investment in Ghana’s agricultural future, and we are ready to work hand in hand with the government through the Feed Ghana program to deliver high-quality seeds to every farm,” Mubarak said.
Ultimately, Tanoh said, Ghana must have an efficient national seed system and a seamless seed delivery system that “must combine improved seed varieties with stable demand, financing, logistics and strong research support.”
For now, Ghana’s focus should be on achieving its 2026 agricultural production goals. To do so, the government has to “help de-risk the system and guarantee demand, while private and cooperative actors provide quality seed at scale and research institutions secure the pipeline of new varieties.”