VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAR #0592 1751638
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241638Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7944
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0827
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 1805
RUEHPC/AMEMBASSY LOME 2217
RUEHCO/AMEMBASSY COTONOU 0860
RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN 0852
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO 0359
RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU 0590

UNCLAS ACCRA 000592 
 
EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT FOR JANET SPECK 
EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT FOR GARY CLEMENTS 
EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT FOR DON MORTON 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ECON GH
SUBJECT: GHANA FOOD SECURITY AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 
PRIORITIES 
 
REF: STATE 58996 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: While meeting with representatives of the Ministry 
of Food and Agriculture to deliver reftel demarche on food security, 
Econ Chief and Econoff were told that agricultural development 
remained the number one priority of the Mills Administration.  The 
GOG supports elevating food security as a G8 deliverable and is 
receptive to USG plans for greater country ownership of the issue. 
The ministry is drafting a white paper for development partners on 
its agricultural development priorities.  The GOG is emphasizing the 
promotion of non-traditional (i.e. non-cocoa, gold or timber) 
exports, although its actions have not yet matched government 
rhetoric.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) Econ Chief and Econoff delivered reftel demarche to Mr. Ram 
Ebo Bhavnani, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) Director of 
Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation on June 18.  Dr. Sam 
Dapaah, USAID's embedded advisor to the Minister, also attended. 
Mr. Bhavnani was receptive to the USG policy of elevating food 
security at the L'Aquila G8 Summit and of reftel five principals for 
global action on food security and agricultural development.  Our 
interlocutors noted that agricultural development was the number one 
priority for the Mills Government due to the number of Ghanaians 
that can be positively impacted by improvements to agricultural 
productivity and greater export opportunities. 
 
COUNTRY OWNERSHIP 
----------------- 
¶3. (U) Dr. Dapaah explained that MOFA was developing a plan for 
improved food security as the first step in undertaking agricultural 
development.  The ministry is drafting a white paper for development 
partners that would outline key agricultural products, nutrition 
goals, livelihood creation, and strategies to reduce post-harvest 
losses, all with a focus on value-chain processes (NOTE: USAID 
 
emphasizes value-chains in its export-enhancement projects in Ghana. 
 END NOTE).  Dapaah emphasized that the GOG first needed to 
explicitly define what it means by agricultural development to 
domestic and international stakeholders.  He also stressed that much 
of the work would have to be done at the district level in order to 
be effective.  Dapaah also told us he wants development partners to 
use country systems and joint sectoral reviews, and that MOFA is 
using a portion of its MDBS (multi-donor budget support) towards 
agricultural development. 
 
GOING WITH THE GRAIN 
-------------------- 
¶4. (U) According to Dapaah, MOFA's next concern is the development 
of the non-cocoa sector. He says that cocoa accounts for only 13 
percent of Ghana's agricultural GDP--surprisingly low given cocoa's 
importance as a source of hard currency.  This leaves nearly 87 
percent of the agricultural economy on which to focus.  Dapaah wants 
to increase the quality of non-traditional crops, such as maize and 
other grains, to the level of Ghana's cocoa crop, which is seen as 
having much higher levels of quality control through strict 
government monitoring and strong incentives for producers.  He also 
discussed ways to reduce risk for non-traditional crop farmers as a 
way to stimulate growth in those sectors, as well as closing Ghana's 
large agricultural productivity gap before any gains can be achieved 
in agricultural development. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶5. (SBU) Although Ghana is in no position to provide assistance to 
other countries to reduce their food shortages, Ghana appears to 
have the political will to support the USG message on food security. 
 The Mills Administration strongly supports local capacity building, 
and with agriculture as its nominal top priority, the GOG is 
particularly receptive to the idea of country ownership of 
agricultural development.  The GOG's challenge is that 
non-traditional exports have been pushed by previous governments 
with little to show, and early indications are that Ghana will need 
to expend more energy on mitigating its fiscal crisis and energy 
sector issues than improving the welfare and productivity of the 60 
percent of its workforce employed in farming.  Swift and concrete 
GOG action in implementing its agricultural policy is the only way 
for the GOG to move beyond mere good intentions in agriculture. 
 
TEITELBAUM