Agric Minister calls for support for GAFET to strengthen agricultural education

The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr Eric Opoku, has called on financial institutions, agribusinesses, development partners and other stakeholders to support a new national fund aimed at providing sustainable financing for agricultural education and skills development.

He said the Ghana Agricultural Fund for Education and Transformation (GAFET) would help equip the human resources needed to drive the transformation of Ghana’s agricultural sector.

Mr Opoku made the call on Tuesday when he formally launched GAFET, a national endowment established under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to support agricultural education and human capital development in Accra.

He described GAFET as a human capital pillar of the government’s flagship Feed Ghana programme.

“Before we can sustainably feed Ghana, we must equip Ghana. The quality of agricultural transformation will depend on the quality of agricultural human capital,” he said.

He urged commercial banks, pension funds, insurance companies, agribusinesses, development partners, philanthropic foundations and alumni associations to contribute to the Fund.

He said such contributions would support laboratories, workshops, demonstration farms, scholarships and agricultural colleges to improve the quality of practical agricultural training.

According to the minister, government had already increased funding to agricultural colleges from GH¢35,000 to GH¢100,000 per institution, contributing to a 35 per cent increase in enrolment.

“GAFET has mobilised GH¢3.5 million in founding capital and is targeting GH¢10 million by December 2026 and GH¢100 million by December 2028. The Fund is expected to transition into a full endowment structure in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a governing board, fund administrator, fund manager and custodian bank,” he added.

He said the Fund was ultimately expected to become a permanent statutory institution established by an Act of Parliament.

He noted that the governance framework will include a fund manager licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, independent annual audits, an approved investment policy focused on capital preservation and the publication of annual summaries.

Mr Opoku revealed that GAFET will initially support 21 agricultural education institutions, comprising five standalone agricultural colleges and 16 universities and technical universities.

“Returns from the endowment will be used to support practical training, mechanisation, research and innovation, digital agriculture, agribusiness incubation, faculty development and scholarships,” he added.

On her part, the Secretariat Technical Lead, Ms Seyram Ofori-Ndinya, said strong governance would be essential to sustaining public confidence in the Fund.

“Our objective is to show how the Fund will be governed, so that every contribution made today actually outlives all of us in this room,” she said.

Five Ghanaian-led agribusinesses, AgriSolve, GrowForMe, New Age Agric Solutions, Tradeline Consult and Farmerline, have joined GAFET as founding partners.

The companies said attracting young people into agriculture would require practical skills, technology and access to modern agricultural infrastructure.

Farmerline pledged to contribute capital and provide access to its technology platform, while GrowForMe committed to opening its crowdfunding platform to support the Fund’s growth.