The Development Bank Ghana (DBG) will next week begin a series of stakeholders engagement across four agriculture value chains with the view of making targeted investments to reduce imports and address food insecurity.

The nationwide meetings, scheduled to commence on March 8, 2023, will identify the challenges to sufficient production in the selected value chains and find ways to ramp up the production of maize, rice, poultry, and soybeans to meet local demand and reduce imports.

Dubbed the “DBG Value Chain Dialogue Series” the intervention should help tackle the bottlenecks which militate against the growth of the Agriculture sector, leading particularly to huge food import

Currently, Ghana spends more than $600 million on poultry imports and over a billion dollars on rice.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DBG, Michael Mensah-Baah, said the four value chains were selected based on their potential to make a significant impact on the country’s food security and the current challenges faced by farmers in these areas.

He said the DBG was seeking to collate views from stakeholders, including policy makers across the country, before making a decision on investment based on the outcomes of the workshops.

The outcomes of the meeting will be compiled and presented to policymakers for reforms that will be complemented by medium to long-term financing from the bank.

Mr Mensah-Baah said the DBG had a pool of funds of more than $700 million to support the selected production of the crops and to ensure that farmers have access to the necessary resources and support to increase output and improve food security in the country.

In recent times, Ghana has witnessed high food prices attributed to the Russia-Ukraine, low food output by farmers and high imports, entrenching food insecurity.

The DBG’s investment in the agriculture sector could stimulate economic growth and development, leading to the creation of jobs and increased income for farmers and other stakeholders in the value chains.