Demand for more readymade meals and fast food services in Ghana is expected to rise as the country’s middle class population increases over the next few years, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report has said.

It said the demand for prepared foodstuffs, canned goods, bottled drinks, and sauces is currently on the rise.

“Similarly, global snack food imports by Ghana are expected to increase as Ghanaian households desire more readily-accessible food products,” the report said.

It revealed the rise in disposable income of Ghanaians has increased their demand for Western goods, especially protein-rich products, but said the country’s agricultural production “is too small to satisfy this demand for meat”.

This, according to the report, requires Ghana to import more meat products annually, stating that the US exported 44.9 million dollars of poultry to Ghana in 2018.

$2bn imports in 3 years

Also, the report showed that Ghana imported nearly 2 billion dollars of agricultural and related products in the past three years. The imports were primarily from the EU, China, Brazil and Southeast Asia.

The US holds 4.9 per cent market share of Ghanaian agricultural imports, the report said.

According to the report, “Ghana maintains an open trade environment towards U.S. agricultural imports and market preferences appear favourable for increasing trade volume”.

“A young labour force, annual increases in labour productivity, high rates of urbanization, and recent increases in employment are driving demand for modern products and new foods”.

Ghana’s agricultural sector, per the report, employs 44.7 per cent of the country’s labour force and “provides 18.3 per cent of the nation’s GDP”.

The USDA mentioned poultry meat and products as its top agricultural and related product export to Ghana, followed by wheat, fish products, food preps and beverages, forest products and ethanol.