The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has launched the Ghana Agricultural Fund for Education and Transformation (GAFET), a national endowment aimed at providing sustainable financing for agricultural education and developing the human capital needed to transform Ghana’s agriculture sector.
The Fund was formally launched in Accra by the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, at a ceremony attended by development partners, financial institutions, agribusiness leaders, traditional authorities, students and the media.
GAFET seeks to address what stakeholders describe as a critical imbalance in Ghana’s economy. Although agriculture contributes more than a fifth of the economy, only about two per cent of tertiary students are enrolled in agricultural programmes, while agricultural education institutions face an estimated annual funding gap of GH¢12 million.
The Fund will pool contributions into a professionally managed endowment, with its capital preserved and invested while annual returns are used to finance approved priorities across the agricultural education system.
Lead Coordinator of GAFET, Steven Nhyira Odarteifio, said sustainable agricultural transformation could not be achieved without investing in the people who would drive the sector.
“If Ghana wants to transform agriculture, it must invest in the people who will transform agriculture,” he said.
He said GAFET would help bridge the gap between classroom learning and the practical demands of modern agriculture by supporting laboratories, demonstration farms, mechanisation, digital agriculture, research and innovation, agribusiness incubation and faculty development.
According to him, the objective is to ensure that graduates of agricultural institutions acquire the technical and entrepreneurial skills needed to participate meaningfully in a modern, technology-driven agricultural economy.
Mr Odarteifio also called for increased participation from the private sector, financial institutions, development partners, alumni associations and individuals, saying the long-term success of the Fund would depend on broad national ownership.
“This fund does not end today. Today is only its birth. Let history recall that when the call came to rebuild Ghana’s agricultural future, government provided the vision, the private sector provided the confidence, and development partners provided their partnership, and together we built an institution that future generations will thank us for,” he said.
GAFET to support 21 institutions
Delivering the keynote address, Mr Opoku described GAFET as a major 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.
The Minister, who was accompanied by senior officials of the Ministry, including his Deputy, John Setor Dumelo, called on commercial banks, pension funds, insurance companies, agribusinesses, development partners, philanthropic foundations and alumni associations to support the Fund.
He encouraged stakeholders to contribute towards laboratories, workshops, demonstration farms, scholarships and agricultural colleges.
Mr Opoku also highlighted recent increases in funding to agricultural colleges, from GH¢35,000 to GH¢100,000 per institution, which he said had contributed to a 35 per cent increase in enrolment.
GAFET has so far mobilised GH¢3.5 million in founding capital and aims to grow the fund to GH¢10 million by December 2026 and GH¢100 million by December 2028.
The Fund is expected to transition to a full endowment structure in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a governing board, fund administrator, fund manager and custodian bank.
It is ultimately expected to become a permanent statutory institution established by an Act of Parliament.
Its governance framework will include a Securities and Exchange Commission-licensed fund manager, independent annual audits, an approved investment policy focused on capital preservation and the publication of annual summaries.
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.
Secretariat Technical Lead, Seyram Kofori-Ndinya, said strong governance would be critical to maintaining 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.
Agribusinesses join as founding partners
Five Ghanaian-led agribusinesses — AgriSolve, GrowForMe, New Age Agric Solutions, Tradeline Consult and Farmerline — have joined GAFET as founding partners.
The companies highlighted the need to attract more young people into agriculture and equip them with 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.
Declaring GAFET formally launched, Mr Opoku urged stakeholders to focus on building institutions that would benefit generations beyond the present.
“Generations yet unborn will remember not the speeches delivered but the institutions built,” he said.
For Mr Odarteifio, the launch represents the beginning of a long-term national effort to strengthen agricultural education and build the human capital required to transform Ghana’s agriculture sector.
“This fund does not end today. Today is only its birth. Together we can build an institution that future generations will thank us for,” he said.
Source: 3news
