An Economist, Professor Peter Quartey is advising the government to develop pragmatic measures on agriculture and manufacturing sectors saying they are critical areas that require greater public and private investment for the country to succeed in its economic transformation through agribusiness.
According to him, the sectors remain the country’s biggest sources of employment and economic transformation.
Professor Quartey further said that improving irrigation infrastructure should be a national priority to achieve sustainable agricultural growth.
“…manufacturing and agriculture. I think that’s where I want to see the injection.
“But those are the two key areas that create the most jobs. So what incentives are we providing to the private sector? That’s where the injection should go,” he told TV3 on Thursday, July 23, 2026.
Commenting on the budget review, happening today, he said the government should use it to introduce policies that encourage private sector investment while strengthening agricultural value chains to increase productivity and reduce the country’s dependence on food imports.
“If we want to see agriculture flourish, to what extent are we providing the infrastructure, the enabling environment for irrigation, for instance?”
He expressed concern that neighbouring countries were making greater progress in irrigated agriculture despite Ghana’s agricultural potential.
“It’s a shame that we go to Burkina Faso, who are irrigating their tomato and other food production, and then we import onions from other countries – we tend to import more from these countries than we can do in our own country.”
Story by Kofi Nartey
