Love him or hate him, this Ato Forson man is giving African Finance Ministers a good name.
No wonder that even though he himself has not opened his mouth – not even once – to answer yes or no to media speculations regarding his intention to run for President, his name is on Mussa Dankwa’s Global InfoAnalytics polls list.
Who says Ghanaians do not know what’s good for them!
We have seen Finance Ministers in the mould of Yaw Osafo Maafo (2001–2005), Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu (2005–2008) and Kwabena Dufuor (2009 to January 2013), so we can tell a sturdy Odum tree from a whimsical reed.
Have you heard the news? In what will go down (for me) as a very progressive and one of the most sensible economic policies since 1985 (when we overthrew Kutu Acheampong), Ato Forson is considering a policy that would require commercial rice importers to source, at least, 50 per cent of their stock from local producers as a pre-condition for securing import permits, ensuring a guaranteed market for domestic farmers.
Hear him: “An importer seeking permission to bring in 100,000 metric tonnes of rice could be required to demonstrate that 50,000 metric tonnes had already been purchased from local producers.”
He was speaking during an engagement with students and the KNUST community on what he terms “The New Economy”.
Tighten
The Finance Minister also disclosed plans to tighten public procurement requirements to compel government-funded institutions to give preference to locally produced rice, particularly under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme.
He questioned why Ghanaian rice farmers continued to struggle to find buyers despite the government's annual expenditure of between GH¢4.5 billion and GH¢5 billion on the Free SHS programme.
According to him, approximately GH¢3.5 billion of that amount is spent on feeding students.
If SHS, government hospitals and the military are placed on a strict 100 per cent local rice diet, I would not need Adam Smith or David Ricardo to predict that this policy presents a significant opportunity for Ghanaian farmers to secure a reliable market.
Some observers fear that unpatriotic importers could over-declare their volume of local rice purchases, and I can hear people warn that “we are in Ghana: collusion (‘chop make I chop’) is the name of the game. I hear that but I’d be surprised if Ato Forson’s men and women at the Ministry are not able to anticipate this and be smart about it.
The good thing about this policy is that, to succeed, it will require the government to ensure motorable access between the farm and the market.
In the 1970s, the headache of Ghanaian farmers was how to transport their yield to the market. In the 1980s, under Jerry Rawlings, the same cry was going up. In 2023-26, tomatoes are still rotting on farms because there are no trucks to transport them to the market, or is it because there are no roads for the trucks to use?
Rain-fed
Another factor Ato Forson has to deal with is our dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
What happened to all our economic planners with PhD and double Masters in Agric?
The only exception to the rule was the early 1980s when Acheampong’s Supreme Military Council constructed irrigation schemes at Dawhenya, Asutsuare, Tono etc, enabling all-year-round cultivation of any crop of our dreams.
Before then, and since then, it has been good intentions and no action.
We are in 2026 and the story has not changed.
Researchers estimate that out of an estimated 1.9 million hectares of total potential irrigable land in Ghana, only about 31,000 hectares (roughly 1.6 per cent) are under fully controlled irrigation.
Thanks to Ghanaian researchers, it is now possible to pump water from boreholes to irrigate farms over long distances. Ladies and gentlemen, I am not talking about the future.
It is happening right now, in Ghana.
The CSIR-Institute of Industrial Research has developed and tested a mobile phone application (App) that remotely controls a solar-powered irrigation pump.
From your phone, the app turns on the pump through which water from the borehole flows into PVC pipes around the farm to water the crops.
Fortunately, Ato Forson does not have to worry about the quality of Ghana rice. Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom’s hotels in Accra, Elmina and Cape Coast began serving local rice in 2015. Since his initiative, many multi-star-rated, international-class hotels in Ghana serve local rice.
Greatest challenge
But perhaps the greatest challenge to Ato Forson’s new policy will be the greed of wealthy party people who import rice. Ghanaians know them.
Since democracy returned to Ghana, they are the ones who import rice and sugar.
Oh, didn’t you hear what happened with Ato Forson and textiles?
He has questioned the continued importation of uniforms for security agencies when local manufacturers, such as Juapong Textiles and Akosombo Textiles, are struggling to sustain their operations to keep Ghanaian workers on the job.
Whether you are NPP, NDC, CPP, let us pray for Ato Forson.
He is going to wrestle with bears and lions – the very wealthy importers.
The writer is the Executive Director, Centre for Communication and Culture.
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