The government of Ghana has secured a $200 million loan facility from the World Bank to support the agricultural sector and increase production for export. The coconut sector and two other tree crop commodities will receive half of the total.

The facility will support a programme known as the ‘Tree Crop Diversification Project’, which would enable the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) to undertake research and development and export of different varieties of coconut, cashew, mango and rubber.

The financial support would also go into strengthening institutional value chain governance, improving tree crop adaptation and climate change resilience, and supporting post-harvest management and value addition lapses of the four selected tree crops.

Dr Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, announced this in a speech read on his behalf during the launch of the 2023 International Coconut Festival in Accra on Thursday.

The TCDA is expected to work closely with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to develop disease-resistant varieties for the four tree crops.

The Project, the Minister said, would help upscale the production of the selected tree crops for export and position Ghana as a leader in the global market.

The International Coconut Festival is scheduled from September 26 to 28, 2023, in Takoradi, Western Region.

The event would be characterized by exhibitions, seminars, networking, capacity-building workshops for farmers, and negotiations with financial institutions for funding.

“Invest in Ghana’s Coconut Sector for an Inclusive Economic Transformation and Improved Climate and Social Resilience” is the theme for this year's festival.

The event is being jointly organized by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, the Western Regional Coordinating Council, the African Coconut Group (ACG).

Mr Albert Kassim Diwura, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, GEPA, expressed optimism that the launch of the Coconut Festival would propel the coconut agenda to greater heights.

"We launched the coconut revitalization intervention some six years ago, with a clear objective of reviving the then ailing coconut industry to improve the supply capacity of the value chain having realized the growing demand trend for coconut globally."

In 2017, he said, the Authority started the Coconut Revitalization Programme, to improve the supply capacity of the value chain and revitalise the once-struggling coconut sector.

The rising global demand for coconuts was the driving force behind the intervention, he added.

"The coconut industry is a multi-billion industry and countries that have invested heavily in the value chain such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries have reaped the benefit. Ghana, our dear country has all it takes to become a leading global supplier of coconut and its derivatives to generate significant export revenue for the country."

He called on the business community in Ghana to explore opportunities within the coconut industry adding that Ghana is well-positioned to emerge as a leading global supplier of coconut products, thereby generating significant export revenues.

“GEPA has made a modest but quite significant investments in the sector since 2017 by procuring and distributing disease-tolerant coconut seedlings to coconut farmers across the major coconut farming Regions in the country specifically the Central,Western, Eastern, Western Nort, Volta, Oti and Bono East regions."

To date, nearly 800,000 seedlings have been distributed, covering over 12,500 acres.

The Western Region has also outdoored a programme to distribute five million seedlings which was launched in 2020.

Mr Diwura gave the assurance that GEPA would continue to support the coconut sector with unwavering commitment until it became self-sufficient.

He acknowledged the considerable investments made by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development through the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) programme.

Also, he acknowledged the crucial role the African Coconut Group, led by Mr. Davies Korboe, its chairman played in promoting sectoral growth.

The government’s establishment of the TCDA is noteworthy and supports its ardent advocacy.

The TCDA’s initiatives are poised to fortify the sector, with coconut being a vital tree crop within its purview, he said

The Authority earnestly called for enhanced inter-institutional cooperation to accelerate the coconut sector’s advancement.

“We remain optimistic and encouraged by the support we are receiving, and we invite other stakeholders to join hands and contribute to these endeavours.

“These coordinated efforts have the potential to firmly position Ghana as a global leader in coconut production and export,” Mr Diwura said.

The past five decades, the Authority has been steadfast in its mission to cultivate, facilitate, and elevate Ghanaian exports through diversification, leading to augmented export revenue and economic progress.

The Authority, he said, in recent years witnessed the implementation of various initiatives that were yielding tangible outcomes.

Notably, the implementation phase of the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS), which commenced last year, with a goal to generate a minimum of $25.3 billion by 2029.

While this objective may be formidable, Mr Diwura said, GEPA was unwavering in its resolve to fulfil that vision.

“Consequently, we have deepened collaborations with both public and private stakeholders in the export sector, culminating in the establishment of the NEDS Coordinating Secretariat, which has been operational since 2021.

The exponential growth of countries like China and India is a testament to the transformative potential of export-oriented policies. Our nation’s progress hinges on substantial investments in the export sector,” he noted.

According to statistics from the 2022 non-traditional exports, the earnings for fresh and processed coconuts stood at $6.3 million, noting that the figure underscored the substantial potential for growth.

He believed that proper policies and targeted interventions had the capacity to harness the potential of the coconut sector to generate more revenue for the nation.

He was of the opinion that the Festival would be one of the avenues to showcase the coconut sector’s potential to local and international investors.

The coconut value chain, he said, presented numerous opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with technical and financial support, to enable them experience exponential growth, extend their market reach domestically and abroad.

He reaffirmed GEPA’s unflinching dedication to the coconut industry and believed in its potential to generate substantial export revenue for the country.

The Authority, he said, was resolutely dedicated to collaborating with its stakeholders in elevating the coconut value chain to unprecedented levels.